What Happens to Tomorrow
by RiverMonster2014
Summary: Kelly Danvers, The Flare, National City's newest hero and daughter of Alex and Maggie, fights to protect her family from the mysterious and dangerous Warden. Alex and Maggie struggle with Kelly decision to become a vigilante and join the DEO. Rated for Language and violence. Sanvers, Supercorp, Original Characters
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Holy shit I'm back. I know it's a supergirl fanfic and not a Rizzles. I've lost a lot of inspiration for those fics. (should be finishing 72 hours eventually). Anyway I'm back. New story, new OC's. So thank you for reading, please let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

She had been thrown into things before, sides of buildings, concrete sidewalks, hell even the back of a cement truck (that one had been the worst) it didn't mean it hurt any less when it happened. The alien was faster than she had first thought, having caught her in a sideswipe that sent her tumbling to the ground. Before she knew it, the beast was on top of her, its razor-sharp teeth latching onto her shoulder, tearing the flesh and causing blood to run down her arm. It hurt worse than anything she had ever felt in her life, but she bit her tongue willing herself not to cry out in pain.

With her free hand she punched it repeatedly in the face. instead of letting go the alien dug its teeth in farther, shaking its head causing even more blood to spill. She needed her staff if she wanted to get out of this with her arm still attached, but her weapon lay just out of reach.

"Stop biting me," she said through clenched teeth. "It really fucking hurts."

The alien didn't listen, nor did she think it could even understand. It didn't matter, as long as it was content with tearing at her arm, she was free to use her powers to get it off. Focusing on her free hand she felt tendrils of light start to form, converging in the palm of her hand as solid light until it finally formed something close to a dagger.

"I said, stop biting me!" She brought the light blade up into the creature's chin, puncturing the skin until she felt the blade under the alien's tongue.

It screamed in agony, releasing her arm and slinking away. She rolled onto her stomach ready to push herself onto her feet only to collapse back down, suddenly feeling weak. _I am not getting eaten today._ The alien was still pacing around her, not daring to come any closer. She took the chance to crawl to her staff, using it to force herself to her feet. Her armor was destroyed, and her left arm was completely numb, there was no way she would be able to repel another attack.

"You're one ugly SOB y'know that?"

The alien snarled at her. She raised her staff challenging it to charge. It leapt at her, she braced for the impact. It never came. When she looked up all she could see was Supergirl's red cape and the alien collapsing to the ground.

"You sure took your sweet time."

Supergirl turned around grinning. "Sorry, taking care of another emergen- oh Rao!" If it hadn't been for her superspeed Supergirl would have missed the other superhero collapsing. She caught the armored woman barely keeping her up right. "You're hurt."

The woman grunted, letting Supergirl support her. She had to admit she was starting to feel light headed and her legs weren't cooperating with the rest of her body. She was so out of it she barely noticed when her feet left the ground as Supergirl took off, racing to the DEO.

XXXXX

Alex was delegating the retrieval of the alien to her agents when Supergirl landed on the outside balcony of the DEO. She paid little attention to the super as she made her way over to the command center, not wanting her sister to see how annoyed she was.

"Bring it here, we have a containment cell open." Alex turned to Kara, noticing the second hero her sister was holding. "Is there something about non-lethal that you don't quite get Flare?"

Flare raised her head, but Alex couldn't see her features behind the woman's helmet. "I didn't…kill it…" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"It isn't dead."

Alex couldn't keep the annoyance from her face. She had gone over the DEO's non-lethal policy repeatedly with the woman. "I'm getting really tired of this Flare." She wanted to continue, but something stopped her. For the first time she noticed Flare's torn armor and bloody arm. It sent her into an immediate response, her annoyance quickly dissipating. "Get her to the med bay now."

Kara nodded, disappearing in an instant with Flare in tow. Alex followed behind sending a text to Lena to get to the DEO ASAP. When she reached the med bay, she cleared out all of the agents in the room before moving to the gurney Kara had laid Flare on.

"Help me with her armor."

Together the two of them removed Flare's chest place and jacket, tossing it aside. Alex was finally able to see the extent of the wound. It was deep enough that bone was visible. Normally it wouldn't have worried Alex to much but the fact the wound hadn't even begun to heal was concerning. Flare not only had an enhanced healing factor on her own but haranel coursing through her veins. She should have never sustained this kind of damage.

"This looks really bad Alex," Kara said.

"It does but she'll be okay, she always is…" Alex didn't sound very convincing even to herself. "I don't understand why she isn't healing. Or even how this injury got this bad."

"Might be the alien, I've never seen anything like it before," Kara suggested.

Alex nodded moving to clean what she could of the wound. "Vasquez," she said knowing the agent was listening, even if she didn't respond. "Turn off the audio and camera's in here." The request was answered in a heartbeat with a small click letting Alex know that no one would hear or see what she was doing. "Get Kelly's helmet off for me." She didn't like using Kelly's actual name at the DEO, but this was one of those cases where treating the girl like her daughter instead of an agent was necessary.

Kara did as she was asked, setting the helmet aside. Her niece was unconscious from the loss of blood but breathing steadily. She felt guilty for not arriving to help Kelly sooner, but the young hero was a capable fighter, having been trained by Alex since she was sixteen. She had thought she could handle it. She had been wrong. She watched Alex do her best to close up the wounds but because of the tearing and how deep they were she could only do so much. They would just have to hope that Kelly started healing on her own soon.

It took thirty minutes before Alex finally called it quits, confident that Kelly's wound would start to heal on its own shortly. She wasn't too concerned, so long as she remained stable. If anything changed she would be forced to bring in the other medical personal, something she would rather avoid.

"How's she doing?" Lena asked entering the room. She noticed the bloodied gauze laying on a tray near Kelly's unconscious form.

"Still not healing," Alex said. "Thanks for coming. I was hoping you would help me analyze the saliva from the alien that did this."

Their relationship hadn't always been perfect. What started out as a mutual dislike for one another had morphed into a light friendship which eventually turned flirty when both wound up single and drunk one evening. Eventually it had turned into what it was now, a close bond, but one that still had its problems. Alex was still cautious around her because of her relationship with Kara which Lena couldn't blame her for. But when it came to Kelly (or even Lori) they were always on the same page.

"Do you have a sample?"

"I have a couple agents getting it now, shouldn't be much longer."

Alex was one of the toughest, most held together, people Lena knew, but even the strongest of people had cracks in their exterior. She could tell Alex was more worried than she was letting on. It was her daughter after all. Lena supposed she would be the same way if it had been Lori laying there instead.

"Have you talked to Maggie?" Lena figured the detective would have already heard about the attack, whether it be from Alex or the media.

Alex sighed, shaking her head. "She's in the middle of a big case. If anything changes I'll call her." Alex didn't look at her but Lena knew she could feel the look she was getting from both her and Kara. "Look she can yell at me later. Unlike you two our fights don't go on for days."

"No, you two just screw each other until you aren't mad any longer."

"Kara!" Lena elbowed her wife in the ribs to no effect.

"What? It's true."

Silence settled over them, Alex not bothering to argue her case. Her sister wasn't wrong, not entirely. She and Maggie would fight, have sex then work I out later. It wasn't exactly healthy but sometimes they both got so frustrated they needed to burn off steam, usually with each other. Maggie would understand Alex not telling her, she knew that. If Kelly were in any real danger she would have told her wife.

The silence drug on becoming almost unbearable. Alex was starting to wonder what was taking her agents so long to get the sample. The alien had been incapacitated by Kara before she had brought Kelly back to the DEO. She didn't have to long to dwell on it. Between them Kelly groaned, her eyes blinking open as she groaned.

"My arm is killing me…" she mumbled.

Alex quickly moved to hold her daughter down when she tried to sit up. She noticed small threads of light start to pull together the remaining pieces of torn flesh. _At least she's healing._ It made no sense that she would start to heal the second she was conscious. Alex remembered when Kelly was sixteen and had nearly died from a synthesized virus. Even in a coma Kelly's body had fought to keep her alive, yet now it was only doing it as she woke up.

"Don't move to much Kel, you were hurt pretty bad, your arm hasn't had time to heal."

"Then can I get a trash can or something? I'm gonna be sick…"

Kara flew out of the room, returning just in time to shove a bucket into Kelly's hands right as she started to throw up. Emptying anything she had on her stomach until she was able to hand the bucket off and collapse back onto the gurney. Alex let her have a minute to recover. As angry as she was, she still felt for Kelly. The young woman had only been doing what she thought she had to do. Alex couldn't fault her for wanting to be the Flare, for wanting to use powers she was born with. She did sometimes wonder how different things would be had Kelly's biological parents actually wanted her.

"I take it you're going to yell at me?" Kelly said, glancing at Alex. "That's how this usually goes isn't it?"

Alex sighed. With Kara it usually did end in argument one way or another. If Alex was reckless Kara would yell at her, if Kara was reckless Alex would yell at her. Kelly wasn't any different. Not completely. When Kelly would be called out for being reckless, she always managed to bring it back to Alex and how she had double standards. She would say one thing and do another. Do as I say not as I do didn't exactly sit well with Kelly.

"No, you did good today," she said turning away from Kelly. "Get some rest, let your arm heal, once it has come find me so we can debrief."

She couldn't see the confusion on Kelly's face, but she could hear it in her voice. "That's it? No 'you could have gotten yourself killed'?"

"That's it," she said, glancing at Lena. "You ready to look at those samples?"

"Yes, after you," Lena said letting Alex take the lead.

Kara stayed back with Kelly, unsure if she should follow or stay with Kelly. In the end she decided to stay, taking up a perch in the gurney next to Kelly's. She stayed quiet, lost in her own thoughts, not knowing what to say or if she should even say anything at all.

"So, she's definitely going to kill me in my sleep, right?" Kelly said earning a snort from Kara.

"In your sleep?" Kara chuckled, "I'd be surprised if she doesn't kill you in the next hour."

Kelly laughed. Only one thing scared her more than being eaten alive and that was Alex Danvers when she was angry. Even the Devil would run if Alex Danvers came at him in a pure rage.

XXXXX

Lena struggled to keep up with Alex's pace as they headed towards the lab. Heels on the DEO's polished concrete floors was not a great pairing. Once in the lab Alex handed Lena the vial her agents had collected from the alien. Lena took it assuming that Alex was going to let her do most of the work for one reason or another. As she was preparing the sample, she felt Alex watching her from behind.

"Is everything alright?"

"Is Lori ever this difficult?"

Lena chuckled shaking her head. "No but she is only 15. She hasn't exactly gotten to the point where she's chomping at the bit to be like Kara." She wasn't going to admit it but living with two Kryptonians was exhausting in its own way. She spent more time worrying about Kara than Kara spent getting hurt. Since Lori was born Kara had become a lot more careful, which could have explained why Kelly tended to get into situations that led her to get hurt.

"You need anything?" Alex said changing the subject, she wasn't sure where she would have gone with the conversation to begin with. She loved Kelly and was extremely proud of her, she just didn't like worrying all the time.

"A blood sample would be helpful," Lena replied.

Alex walked over to a fridge, carefully thumbing over frozen vials before finding the one she wanted and returning to Lena. "It's a few months old." She turned the vile over in her hands a couple of times. "After what happened I made a point of testing her blood every few months…" She felt like she needed to explain herself, even though the look Lena held said otherwise.

"You know you don't have to explain yourself to me Alex," she said, taking the vial, "I get it. I was so worried when Lori was born, I'd be running tests every other day. You're worried about her, I understand."

They were words that she didn't know she needed to hear. There were times where she felt she was doing to much, being overbearing. But she obviously wasn't the only one. Lena was right, it was alright to worry as long as that worry didn't seep into everything else. Which, to Alex's credit, it hadn't. Lena took the vial, working it back and forth as the sample thawed.

"Do you think its worth it?" Alex said avoiding Lena's eyes.

"What?"

"Letting your daughter sacrifice herself for everyone else?"

Lena paused, falling completely silent. Her daughter was half Kryptonian, but she wasn't like Kara, at least not yet. Kelly was a different story, becoming a vigilante at seventeen only to shortly thereafter becoming a so-called superhero working for the DEO a year later. The change had come as a surprise to Alex and Maggie, not so much to Lena, who had seen Kelly slowly evolve into a hero. Lena attributed it to being Kelly's aunt, she was on the outside, she saw more of Kelly than her parents did.

"I think we both knew going into it that nothing would ever be simple," Lena started, "Kelly was never meant to sit in the background, she was meant to be something, just like Lori. As much as I don't like it, she was meant for something greater. When it comes with raising children that aren't completely human there are sacrifices to be made, and letting them be something more is one of them."

A harsh laugh came from Alex, "I guess. Let me if you find something, I'm going to check on Kelly." She saw Lena nod before she left, heading back down to the infirmary. Once there she noticed that Kara was absent. Kelly was still on the gurney only now she was sitting up and in a DEO issue uniform. She heard Alex coming and turned around giving her a slight nod.

"I thought you wanted me to find you?" she said, rising from her perch. "I was just about to leave…"

"Changed my mind," Alex shrugged, "Up for a walk? We can debrief while we go."

Kelly returned the shrug with her uninjured arm. "Beats sitting around here." She joined Alex by the door. "Lead the way Director." There was a mocking tone in her voice, but Alex ignored it. She led Kelly out of the infirmary into the hall, passing by a few interrogation rooms and the locker room.

Alex glanced over to her daughter, noticing the younger woman was biting her lip. It was a look she got whenever she was trying to think of something to say after she'd gotten in trouble. Alex let her mull over it for awhile longer. It wouldn't hurt her to sweat a little after the fiasco that was her fight against the alien.

"I should have been more careful…" she finally admitted. "It caught me off guard at one point, which is when it got the upper hand."

"Talk to Lena, see if she'll let you take a few hours off work to come in and train," Alex said. "I meant what I said, you did good today. Everyone makes mistakes, me included, you just have to get up, dust off and try again."

Kelly stopped, tilting her head just like Maggie always did. "Lena gave you some speech about the whole raising an alien thing again, huh?" Alex couldn't help but laugh at Kelly's deduction skills.

"She did," Alex said, "I guess that I always thought out of all of us Danvers you'd be slightly more normal."

Her daughter grinned. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm anything but normal." Alex returned the smile, patting Kelly's shoulder.

"And I couldn't be happier, as much as I hate this whole vigilante thing," when Kelly frowned she continued, "however, you make me proud, and I know you'll be alright this time. But I'm your mom and gonna worry and I'm going to hate you getting beat up. I also know nothing I say will change your mind. The least I can do is stand behind you and do my best to make sure you're capable of taking care of yourself."

"That mean I can leave? It's my turn to pick up dinner and I need to change."

"Get out of here, I'll see you in about an hour."

Kelly nodded, not wasting any time before taking off down the hall, disappearing in a flash of light just around the corner. Alex shook her head after the girl. She still needed to talk to Lena about the alien. She checked her phone expecting a text from Maggie only to find a message from Lena instead.

_**I've got something, meet you in the command center.**_

XXXXX

"The alien's saliva has a very concentrated venom in it," Lena said the instant Alex entered the room. "Concentrated enough that it completely ignored Kelly's healing factor. I'll need more time to figure out the exact make up of the venom, but for now it's a start."

"It seems to be working the way out of her system, wound is healing," she turned to Kara, "right Kara?"

"Slowly but surely, it was a really deep bite."

Alex nodded, the wound no longer seemed to be bothering Kelly, but she could always be putting on a brave face.

"Alright, well I'll leave you to test it as much as you want, but what you do have is enough for me right now," Alex said. "Got time to work on it tomorrow?"

"Can I use my own lab?"

"If you can give up Kelly for a couple days, she needs to brush up on her training."

"I think I can manage with the security I have on hand," Lena held out her hand with a smile. "You have a deal."

Alex took her hand. "Good, I'll get a few more samples over to L-Corp in the morning. As for now I'm going home, it's been a long day." She would be happy to get home, take a hot shower and have dinner with her family. After saying her goodbyes she headed out, stopping by the med-bay to grab Kelly's ruined armor, the helmet was gone telling her Kelly had taken it. Alex would look into getting the armor repaired later. For now, she just wanted to get home.

XXXXX

_Unknown location_

Warden glared at the pacing man; he wouldn't stop moving which was giving her a headache. Across from her stood another woman, looking just as annoyed as her, only she was less likely to kill the man.

"My client has very specific requests," he said, pausing in his pattern.

"I am well aware," Warden said, running a gloved hand over the blade of her axe, "but I don't answer to your client. I answer to her and only to her." She pointed to her boss.

"You do as you're told," the man growled. "That's what you are being paid to do, we have a deal."

"I will do as she tells me. As for you," she rose from her place, moving so fast the man didn't register her until her axe was against his throat, "I could gut you like a fish and still get my job done."

The man looked like he was about to piss his pants. Warden smirked, proud of herself. Good he should be afraid of her, maybe he would learn not to talk back.

"That's enough, you've made your point," the woman said. "Mr. Marrison, I assure you that my warden her will take care of everything. Your client didn't go through the trouble of finding us for nothing."

Mr. Marrison glanced over at the woman, then back at Warden before adjusting his tie. "Very well, I expect to hear from you soon." He didn't wait for them to say anything more before bolting.

Warden waited for a moment before turning back to the woman. "Your warden? Last I checked I was your loyal servant." The woman smiled, shaking her head.

"You are a lot of things to me, but you are the Warden on our Earth, and you will be the Warden on this Earth as well."


	2. Chapter 2

**Holy shit an update. Sorry its been so long, I've been having trouble getting inspiration for this chapter, writers block is unbelievable, but I am not giving up. I've also been busy job searching and taking classes. Hopefully the next update will be much sooner, but we'll see. In any case thanks for reading and sticking with me, please tell me what you think and as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 2

Alex hadn't expected Maggie to beat her home, but she couldn't say she was disappointed. Her wife of fifteen years was at the kitchen counter with a stack of files in front of her. Alex came up behind her, wrapping her arms around Maggie's waist and resting her chin on her shoulder. Maggie smiled, her attention never leaving the file in front of her. They remained that way for a while in a comfortable silence.

"Paperwork?" Alex said choosing to break the silence.

Maggie stiffened in front of her lightly shaking her head. "Miles Donovan is trying to appeal his case." Alex wasn't sure if she was hearing Maggie right or not. The Donovan case had been closed for years without him saying so much as a word. It didn't make sense, at least to her, why he would start now.

"Are you taking the lead to keep it from Kelly?" Alex wasn't sure how Kelly would take any information regarding Donovan at this point. It has always been a subject they avoided completely.

"I'm taking the lead because I want the bastard to rot in his cell," she bit her lip to keep from continuing. There were a lot of things she wanted to happen to Miles Donovan, and she would gladly assist with them.

Alex was about to continue when the front door slammed shut and Kelly came in holding a large bag of Chinese food. "I'm hungry so unless those case files contain the biggest case to ever happen in National City, they better be going away," she said setting the food down on the counter.

Maggie shut the folder she had been reading and set it aside with the others. Alex let go of her moving to the other side of the kitchen to get plates. Behind her Kelly and Maggie embraced briefly.

"So, what's this about you nearly being eaten by an alien today?" Maggie said, lightly elbowing her daughter in the abdomen.

Kelly collapsed into a barstool, frantically reaching for the bag of food. "I have no idea what you are talking about and anything that she," she pointed to Alex with one hand while piling food in front of her with the other, "told you is a complete lie." She nodded to herself, refusing to look up from the chicken in front of her.

Her parents glanced at one another with a shrug. Maggie had seen the whole thing on the news while at work, and even if she hadn't Alex had filled her in not long after Kelly had returned to the DEO barely standing. She had gotten over being angry about Kelly being a vigilante years ago. She let her daughter do what she thought was right, she didn't like it, but she'd be a hypocrite if she stopped her.

"Are we gonna eat or what? I'm hungry."

Hunger won them all over, with Alex and Maggie taking up seats around Kelly. With their crazy schedules it was rare for them to have a night together where they could just be a family. It had been even worse when Kelly had been younger, with Maggie being at work most nights and Alex trapped at the DEO dealing with the Children of Liberty. Recently things had been less hectic, but they all knew it wouldn't last. That wouldn't stop them from enjoying it while it lasted.

XXXXX

Lori kicked at the ground from her spot at the dinning room table. Her mom was in the kitchen working on dinner paying little attention to her. She didn't mind it, when both her parents were home it was about the same. The only difference was that Lena usually sat with her while Kara cooked, working on something Lori didn't quite understand yet. Occasionally one of them would help her with homework, though that wasn't very often.

"Hey mom?"

"Hmm?" Kara didn't look up from whatever she was cooking.

"Where's maime?"

Kara stopped for a moment, looking up at her daughter. Occasionally translations got lost on her, even if she heard the word a thousand times. She shook her head remembering the translation. She knew Lena was at L-Corp running whatever tests she needed to on the saliva that nearly killed Kelly earlier that day.

"She had to stay late at work," Kara paused, unable to decide how much detail to give the young Kryptonian. "We had a run in with a dangerous alien today, your cousin was hurt pretty bad. Your mom just wants to get a head start on analyzing the chemical make-up of its saliva."

"Sounds boring."

"Lori don't-" by the time Kara turned around her daughter was gone, having flown out the open window. "No that's fine… I'll eat dinner by myself."

XXXXX

Lena sat alone in her office, half asleep from a long day at work. She wanted to go home to Kara and their daughter, but she needed to stay, needed to work. The chemical in the alien's saliva was dangerous, but also extremely beneficial to her harenal research. It had the potential to completely remove the side-effects of harenal in a human. She needed to figure it out in order to protect her niece, and James, and anyone who had already been given the harenal.

"I just don't understand…" she spoke to herself, unaware of the Kryptonian standing on her balcony.

"Maybe I can help," Lori asked stepping into the office.

Lena jumped, spinning around only to see that it was her daughter and no one else. _Strange, _she thought, _I told Kara I'd be late…_ Panic set in almost immediately. Kara wouldn't have let Lori come here unless something was wrong.

"Is everything okay?" worry filled her voice, "where's-"

She was cut off by Lori interrupting, "mom's at home probably burning dinner," her daughter went over to the couch to sit down. "She knows I'm here. I thought I could help you so you could come home sooner."

Lena smiled. Of course her daughter would do something like this. She was just like Kara in that aspect, always worrying about her, always making sure she took care of herself. Over the years she had gotten a lot better at leaving work early and taking time for herself. Today was no different, she just needed to look into what had hurt her niece so badly. She sighed as she went over to join Lori on the couch. Her daughter was smart, smart enough to see something she might have missed.

"Alright, but you can't tell Kara," she said.

Lori nodded excitedly. "Deal."

XXXXX

"Kelly Sawyer Danvers you put that pot sticker down," Maggie warned, jabbing her chopsticks in Kelly's direction.

"I bought it, I get the last one."

"Oh no, you don't get to play that card," Maggie tried to grab the pot sticker again only for Kelly to hold it further away. "I raised you."

"You had help."

The two glared at each other unaware that Alex had stepped out of the kitchen to take a phone call. Neither of them would budge over the pot sticker. Kelly held out her hand, placing the pot sticker to the side.

"Arm wrestle for it?"

"How would that be fair?"

"Mom still keeps that power dampener around here right?"

Maggie nodded. She wasn't about to turn her back on Kelly, instead keeping their eyes locked while she fumbled for the dampener in the counter drawer. She handed the device to Kelly, who then attached it to her neck and turned it on. She grimaced as a light pain shot through her injured shoulder but it quickly passed. Once that was done she held out her hand again. This time Maggie took it.

Two seconds later Kelly found herself struggling to keep her hand from the counter top. There was no denying that Maggie was strong (probably stronger than Kelly was without her powers) but Kelly wasn't easily deterred. She had just about turned the match around when Alex walked back in and took the last pot sticker for herself. Maggie slammed Kelly's hand into the countertop. When she went to grab the last of the pot stickers, she found Alex already biting down on it grinning from ear to ear.

"Sorry but strength doesn't always win the prize."

"Both of you are horrible parents and I will be asking for new ones," Kelly said.

Alex ruffled her daughter's hair. "How's your arm? You going to make your game Saturday?"

Kelly turned off the power dampener on her neck and tossed it on the counter. "I'll be there," she rose from her spot glancing at Maggie, "the question is whether or not you two will be there." She peeled back her sleeve to show mostly healed bite marks. They were still an angry red, but the swelling had gone down considerably.

"Worry less about me and more about what I'm gonna do to the other team this weekend," she grinned. "Total annihilation."

"That's my girl," Maggie said smiling. "Now get out of here, it's late and past my bedtime."

Maggie hugged Kelly before patting her on the shoulder. Her daughter then hugged Alex before talking her leave. They waited until they heard her motorcycle leave before breaking the silence. Both had been ignoring the elephant in the room while Kelly had been there, but it needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.

"We have to tell her," Alex said. "She deserves to know Maggie."

Her wife shook her head. "I don't understand why, it won't hurt her to not know. He won't get out, no harm done." She knew that wasn't what Alex wanted to hear, she wanted her to agree that they should tell Kelly. Or at the very least talk to her about it. Maggie didn't want to do that. She didn't want to put Kelly through any more than she already had.

"If we don't tell her and she finds out she will never forgive us."

"She will always forgive you Alex," Maggie shrugged. She needed a drink and she was sure Alex needed one too. "I just want to protect her Alex; she's been through so much already. Why make it worse?"

Alex took the glass of scotch offered to her. Kelly was smart enough to figure it out if they didn't tell her. And maybe Maggie was right, maybe Kelly didn't need to know, but Alex wasn't willing to lie to her. Not about this. Not when Miles Donovan still posed a threat to her if he was released.

"I hear you, I really do Mags, but he is dangerous if he gets out, he will go after her and yes Kelly is not the scared four-year-old, he abused but there is still trauma there," Alex said. "I just want her to be aware that he could come for her."

Maggie came over to Alex, setting her glass aside and reaching up to wrap her arms around her wife's neck. "Do what you need to do Alex. Just be careful." Alex leaned down to kiss her. "What do you say we go to bed?"

Alex grinned sweeping Maggie off her feet into a bridal carry. "That sounds like the best idea I've heard all day." Maggie giggled allowing Alex to carry her back to their bedroom.

XXXXX

Warden slammed her fists into the table causing it to crack and splinter down the middle. "How fucking difficult is it to find a kinetic? They tend to stand out!" An explosion of red light sent the remaining table across the room into the wall. She was working with morons, this Earth, wherever it was, was full of morons.

"Would you please calm down?" the woman in the corner said. "You'll give yourself an aneurism."

"Yes, Ms. Thorul, whatever you say."

"Warden I am the one who gave you a second chance, don't get short with me."

Warden bit her tongue, the light disappearing from around her. "I'm apologize. We need to find this kinetic, Flare or whatever their name is, and every single one of these lackies is completely incompetent." She flung her arms out to the side angrily waving at the men and women standing around them. They seemed to shrink down into themselves as Warden continued to rage.

"Cause a scene, draw her out," Ms. Thorul suggested. "I'm looking into things; it seems one of our lovely creatures followed us here."

"The big one with the sharp teeth?" Warden said her arms falling to her sides.

"And it seems it took a large bite out of our kinetic."

Warden came over to Thorul, finally having calmed down enough. "I take it that's good for us?" Thorul smiled, her fingers quickly moving over a keyboard to bring up images of a large alien with its teeth sunk into a helmeted woman's shoulder.

"I could be, should you e able to release it."

"Where is it?"

"Unknown. Give me some time and I'll give you a place to start," Ms. Thorul paused turning to the Warden, who nearly towered over her, even in heels. "Be patient darling, we'll get there, it will just take time."

XXXXX

The noise was blaring, almost unbearable, like the deafening ringing of the alarm clock. It was far to early for that, outside it was still dark, no earlier than two or three in the morning. She couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from, and why it wasn't stopping. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, glancing around the pitch-dark room. Alex was still (somehow) sound asleep next to her. On the bedside dresser next to her, her phone was nearly vibrating off of its perch. She reached over to grab it, quickly rubbing her eyes so she was able to read the caller ID. _Albatross Bay Prison._ She answered it immediately, making sure to check on Alex to assure she was still asleep.

"Sawyer."

"Lieutenant, this is Officer Pierce at Albatross Bay Prison I'm calling about the request you made to the Warden earlier this morning."

"This couldn't have waited until morning?" Maggie said annoyed. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes ma'am and I apologize, its just that if you want to meet with the prisoner you're going to have to do it now."

"At three in the morning?"

"Now or never Lieutenant."

Maggie signed, sitting up in her bed. "I'll be there in forty." She hung up with a yawn. Next to her Alex shifted closer to her, still asleep. She leaned down gently placing a kiss on Alex's cheek. "I'll be back in a couple hours babe."

Alex mumbled something incoherent, turning away from Maggie only to pull the blankets close to her in a death grip. Maggie smiled as she left the warmth of their shared bed and went to get dressed. She would have to thank the warden personally for waking her up four hours before her alarm. And again for pulling her out of her bed where she'd much rather be curled up with her wife.

In less than five minutes she was at the door with a large German Shepard pawing at her legs to follow. She scratched behind his ears for a moment before slipping out the door. She would explain the late-night call to Alex later, if she wanted to speak with the prisoner, she would have to do it now.

The streets were abandoned this early in the morning except for the occasional lone car. A normally fifty-minute drive on only took her about thirty-five, arriving at the prison right on time. She waited a couple minutes before leaving her car. If she had to be up this early, they could wait a couple of minutes. It wasn't like Albatross Bay had the greatest security either. She waltzed in there once, she could easily do it again.

When she finally entered Officer Pierce was waiting for her at security. He seemed much more awake than she did, probably because he worked nights. Since she hadn't come from work, she hadn't bothered to bring her gun, or much of anything save her wallet. He led he down a hallway into an interrogation room.

"You'll have thirty minutes with the prisoner."

Maggie shook her head. "I'll take as much time as I need."

"The warden only granted half an hour."

"The warden already drug me out of bed at three in the morning, I'll take as much time as I damn well need, if he has a problem with that he can come down here himself and remove me," she could see the officer visibly shrink. "Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am," he back towards the door. "The prisoner will be brought right in."

Maggie nodded taking the seat with her back to the door. If she was being honest, she didn't want to be here at all. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. She may not have been anywhere near National City when the Children of Liberty were making their stand. Hell, she hadn't even been in the country. News of the entire country nearly falling to pieces had reached her of course, but she hadn't been there. She hadn't fought and struggled with Alex and Kara, she hadn't been there for James or Lena. She had run because she was scared and sat idly by as terrorists attacked and murdered aliens. People she had sworn she would protect.

The door behind her opened behind her followed by two sets of footsteps. Maggie kept her eyes focused on the seat across from her as she waited for the guard to bring the prisoner around. Pierce walked the man around the table, pulling out the chair for him before shoving him into it. Once he was seated Pierce nodded to Maggie before leaving the room.

The man glared at her with cold brown eyes. His face twisted in anger and annoyance; his lip twisted back in a snarl.

"Who the hell are you?" he growled.

"I'm Lieutenant Maggie Sawyer, NCPD Science Division," she said resting her hands on the table in front of her. "I think it's time for you and I to talk Mr. Lockwood."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

If she had been anyone else a 6'2", 200-pound man jumping on her back would have knocked her to the ground and crushed her. Instead she ended up flipping him over her shoulder onto the ground in front of her. He groaned as the wind was knocked out of him. Kelly stood over him, waiting for him to catch his breath.

"Nick, what the fuck?" she said exasperated at her friend's antics.

"One of these days I'm gonna get you."

Nick held out his hand for Kelly to help him up, which she did after rolling her eyes. "Nick the day you're able to knock me down is the day your parents start liking me." Nick laughed hard enough that his face started to turn red.

"That'll be the day," he said once his laughter died out. "Speaking of parents how are yours? Still the ultimate badasses of National city?"

"I really wish you would stop calling them that."

He grinned wrapping his arm around Kelly's shoulders in a tight hug. "Embarrassed by your parents?" Kelly shoved him away.

"It's just weird," she sighed. "Can we go? I'm going to be late."

Nick immediately stopped with his teasing. He caught up with her, matching his stride. She would get into moods from time to time where she everything jut annoyed her. He had known her long enough to know when to back off and not tease her. Kelly was his best friend, he liked fucking around with her, but he also knew when to stop. Unlike some of the other people who hung around them.

"Something happen?"

Kelly sighed her head shaking. "You see the news yesterday?" She caught a glimpse of Nick nodding in response. "Mom didn't go off on me. But you can tell with her. You can see it with her, when she's mad and she was mad. But she didn't say anything, and I don't know why." It had been bothering her since she left the DEO yesterday. Alex had always been hard on her when it came to her powers, it was her being protective, it had gotten even worse since the incident when Kelly had been sixteen.

Nick paused his head tilting to the side. "Parents always have their reasons, not mine, but normal parents." When Kelly didn't stop, he reached out to grab her arm. He didn't keep the contact long, just long enough to get her to slow down and look at him. All he managed to earn was a glare from her. Nothing he hadn't gotten from her before, but it was icy, angry and almost unsure.

"I really hate when you do this," Kelly said unable to help smiling. "Your bullshit psycho-whatever you call it."

Ignoring the possible dangers to himself, Nick shoved her gently. "And yet you're still here. Admit it, you can't get enough of me." Kelly shoved him back hard enough to throw him off balance. When he managed to stay of his feet, she flipped him the bird.

He laughed, picking up his pace. "Better run Kels, or you'll be late again."

She cursed under her breath. Every single time they had this class Nick always managed to make them late. When it came down to it Kelly could make it to class in half a second. She never did, choosing, instead, to always be late with her friend. Sometimes it pissed her off, but Nick always had a way of making it seem trivial. It was the only reason it didn't truly bother her.

Aside from his incessant need to make her life difficult (and boy did he ever), Nick had been one of the most consistent things in her life. They had been friends since middle school, where had been on the same junior hockey team (something that his parents, to the day, detested). He was like a brother to her (another thing his parents hated), he knew just about everything there was to know about her and her family. She could always rely on him; it didn't matter the situation.

"This conversation is over. I'm going to class." She didn't wait for him before disappearing in a brilliant flash of light.

XXXXX

"All I'm saying is that having an extra set of eyes is never a bad thing," Alex wasn't sure why she was having to defend her methods to the Secretary of Defense. She was the Director of the DEO it shouldn't matter what methods he used as long as they came with results.

"I understand that Director, but in the interest of national security you should not divulge classified information to the CEO of a multimedia company and the wife of a notorious reporter."

"First of all, sir, that reporter is my sister, second of all Lena Luthor has clearance, she is a consultant of the DEO. The amount of NDA's she had signed if enough to fill an entire room, if you think for a second, she would leak any classified information to Kara you're extremely mistaken."

The Secretary clenched and unclenched his jaw, annoyed at her brazenness. He clearly wasn't used to having someone talk back. But Alex wasn't about to let him talk down at her, she wasn't afraid to step on toes. Especially when they thought they were better than her.

"She can't be trusted, and honestly Director neither can you."

Alex had excellent self-control. She rarely lost her temper, the few times she had it had been in extreme situations. If she had been in the same room as the Secretary, she would have thrown him through a window. Unfortunately, she wasn't. The best she could do was terminate the call, but that would only postpone this conversation, not end it.

"If you're threatening to replace me, go ahead and try, the government already tried that with Colonel Haley, look what came of that," she smirked. "If I were you, I'd worry less about the DEO and how I run it and more about yourself. It would be horrible if personal information were to leak to a certain reporter."

"Are you threatening me Director?"

"I am reminding you who you are speaking to," she said. "Lena Luthor is not a security threat, she had been working with the DEO since the Daxamite Invasion, she has saved thousands of lives. Next time you question my authority you can come see me in person. I'll show you exactly how I threaten people like you."

She terminated the call before he had the chance to retaliate. If she never had to deal with a member of the cabinet again it would be to soon. She hated politicians the only one she ever remotely like was Marsdin and she was long gone, having disappeared after stepping down as the President. Ever since then she had been questioned in her own motives by every government official. Year after year it never changed.

"Rough day Danvers?"

Alex had been so preoccupied with the Secretary she hadn't noticed Maggie standing in the doorway of the conference room. She was slightly disheveled, her leather jacket askew and hair messier than usual. Alex knew it was probably from chasing after some perp or dealing with one thing or another at the precinct.

"You could say that," Alex said leaning on the conference table. "It's been what seventeen years since Lex broke out of prison? That long and people still don't trust Lena. She killed her brother for Rao's sake."

"People are idiots, they see what they want to see," Maggie shrugged. "Lena's doing good things, and all of us know that. I think that matters more than what some jackass thinks."

"Right." Alex watched three agents milling about across from the conference room in the lab. She couldn't remember what they were working on, something important she was sure. "What about you? You look like shit."

Maggie chuckled, leaning against the desk next to Alex. "A kid let a lizard loose in the office. Spent my morning trying to catch the thing." She smiled as Alex laughed. It was funny, it wasn't every day she saw a bunch of grown men freak out over a bearded lizard. "Besides I've been up since three."

Alex shifted her weight from one foot to the other, not looking at Maggie but keeping a small grin. "I was wondering why I woke up next to a dog and not my wife." She finally tilted her head to look at Maggie. "Meeting a mistress?"

"Prisoner."

"At three in the morning?"

Maggie shrugged. "What can I say, the warden really doesn't like me."

"I'll say," Alex couldn't help rolling her eyes. "You went to talk to Donovan?"

"Lockwood."

"What?"

Alex stood up so fast Maggie nearly fell. She knew Alex wasn't going to be happy about her talking to Lockwood. Afterall she had been out of the country when everything involving Lockwood went down. But he was connected to Donovan and as detestable as he was Maggie was less likely to kill him than Donovan.

"I was hoping he would have some insight into Donovan's appeal," Maggie said. "I didn't tell you because I didn't think Warden Hathaway would let me see him. And when he did, I didn't want to wake you. That's all."

Alex visibly relaxed. Apparently, her explanation had been enough.

"Did he tell you anything?"

"Only that Donovan has been talking to someone outside of the prison."

"His lawyer?"

Maggie shook her head. "Someone else." She sighed. Her visit with Lockwood hadn't been as illuminating as she had hoped, but it had been something. It gave them some place to start looking.

"Anything else?"

"Just that Donovan holds a grudge."

"With?"

"You, Supergirl," she paused biting the inside of her lip, "Kelly."

Alex sighed her head shaking. "Unsurprising. We'll keep and eye on it." She turned towards the door, waving for Maggie to follow. "I was going to talk to Kelly about it tonight, I really think you should be there when I do."

She had resisted before. She didn't know how deeply Kelly could still be affected by him. Maggie knew she still hurt when it came to her father, and he had loved her for fourteen years. Donovan had hated Kelly since the day she was born. She may have only been four when Alex rescued her, but the damage had been done and Maggie knew better than anyone just how much that damage could linger.

"I will be," she said firmly. "No more secrets."

She meant it.

XXXXX

"Maybe this one here?" Kara was pointing at an isolated protein on the monitor. She had wondered into the L-Corp lab over an hour ago to try and get Lena to take a break, but her wife wasn't budging.

Lena didn't look up from her tablet, "possible, but unlikely." She continued to pace across the lab. She was deep in concentration, something was bothering her about the venom, but she couldn't place her finger on what. The chemical composition didn't match any known sample. It didn't matter if it was alien, if it was from the galaxy something in it would look familiar. Or at least resemble compounds found on Earth. Even the proteins were strange, off, somehow.

"You're pacing again."

"It helps me think."

"Food, also, helps you think," Kara offered, more for herself than for Lena.

"If you're that hungry go get food, I'm not stopping you."

Kara sighed. Lena had left early in the morning, skipping breakfast (again) to work on analyzing the alien venom. It was a pattern she fell into every few months, something left over from her early days in National City. Kara couldn't break the habit no matter how hard she tried. It always left her with one option, an option she didn't like using, but sometimes she had to.

Using her super speed, she crossed the room, grabbed the tablet from Lena's hands leaving Lena a bit confused. Kara held up the tablet shaking it momentarily before shutting it off. Lena crossed her arms giving Kara an icy glare.

"You've been here all day, you skipped breakfast, you're not skipping lunch, let's go."

Lena didn't budge. Alex had tasked her with identifying the makeup of the venom she wasn't going to abandon it to get lunch. When she was hungry, she would eat and not a moment before. Kara wasn't going to budge either. She had the upper hand, super strength and all, if Lena wasn't going to leave, she would carry her out herself.

"This can't wait Kara."

"It can and it will." Kara crossed the room until she was standing in front of Lena. "The alien is in containment. The chances of there being another one on Earth are slim to none. If there were Brainy would tell us and I would handle it, not Kelly."

Lena had to admit Kara had a point. The alien was in containment, and it had been the first recorded encounter of that particular species on Earth. Still it wouldn't hurt to have something that could combat the venom should there be another one.

"And what if it does the same to you?"

"My powers are from the sun," Kara said, "Kelly's are artificially enhanced through the Haranel it probably has something to do with that. Something I'm sure you've considered. Now please can we get something to eat? Big Belly Burger?"

The longer she refused to give in the longer she was away from her research. Seeing that she was in a stalemate she wouldn't win; Lena uncrossed her arms. "Fine but only if we actually get Big Belly Burger."

Kara bounced on the heels of her feet a huge grin across her face. Sometimes Lena forgot that she married a complete dork, but she wouldn't trade it for anything. She let Kara lead her out of the lab, into the elevator. She supposed taking a few hours off wouldn't hurt.

XXXXX

Mr. Marrison had dealt with all kinds of people, politicians, criminals, white collared folks, but none even compared to the ones he was dealing with now. He could handle Ms. Thorul, she could be a bit icy and curt but she was a business woman, he expected nothing less. His problem with the Warden. If he looked at something funny Warden would be all over him. She couldn't keep her anger in check, not only was that dangerous for him, but his client as well.

The fact he even had to deal with her was insulting. This arrangement was between his client and Ms. Thorul, not her side kick. Sometimes it felt as if the Warden was the one pulling the strings. If that was the case she was running the whole thing to slow. His client needed results and he needed them fast.

"Mr. Marrison, isn't this a surprise," Ms. Thorul said. "Can I help you with something?"

He glanced at the Warden. She was on the other side of the room, her face still covered by a mask. He hated he didn't know what she looked like. At least if he could see her face he would know what she was thinking.

"My client is getting impatient."

"Well it wouldn't be taking so long if you would get Donovan out of prison."

"I'm lost," he said. "What does Donovan have to do with our deal?"

The request to get Miles Donovan, a man convicted for child abuse and working with a terrorist group, out of prison had baffled him. He had no connections, no family to speak off, at least not that he was allowed contact with. He wasn't special, he was a waste of time and if it weren't for the Warden's fiery glare he would have said so.

"He's important," she said. "You want Supergirl, we want the kinetic. And Donovan is the key to getting her."

"How do you even know Donovan?"

Ms. Thorul crossed her arms, tilting her head to call Warden over. She was by her side seconds later, glaring down at him. He was sure if she could growl she would be.

"Let's just say that this wouldn't be the first time he's met with us," she said with a cold smile.

"I need you to start moving, we'll deal with Donovan later," he said. "We've run into a complication, a detective has been blocking his release."

He barely had any time to register the exchange between the two before he was pinned to the wall a thick tendril of light wrapped around his throat. He reached up struggling to rip free only to have his arms pinned to the wall. All around him was glowing red, in front of him the looming figure of the Warden, she wasn't even touching him. It terrified him that someone could kill him this easily.

"I'll make you a deal," the Warden's voice was low and dangerous, "you get Donovan out of prison and I won't kill you?"

He continued to struggle for air as she continued to strangle him. He couldn't see behind her mask but he knew she was snarling at him. She hated him, if he didn't know that before he sure did now.

"What she is trying to say is she'll leave immediately to get things moving," Ms. Thorul interjected. "That is if and only if the next thing you do is get Donovan released."

Warden released him from her grasp, letting him collapse to the floor in a fit of coughing. A chuckle escaped her as he continued to cough and attempt to get to his feet.

"He'll be out by morning."

"And Supergirl will be dead by lunch," she was grinning. "Win-win."

XXXXX

Anytime her parents requested they go out to dinner together her anxiety skyrocketed. It wasn't out of the ordinary, they ate together a few time a month. In recent months it had started to be more frequent of a thing for reasons unknown (but not unwelcome) to Kelly. She spent a lot of time with her parents, something she was made fun of for by people who didn't know them. It didn't bother her, they were close, more than she could say about some families.

Right now however, she dreaded that close-knit family dynamic. Whatever they had wanted to talk to her about couldn't have been good. A fact that was only reinforced when she reached the alien bar and found both her parents at their booth and her food and beer was already there. They had planned this and knew the promise of wings win over the urge to run.

"Alright, what did I do?"

Her parents exchanged glances, neither of them cracking a smile. She felt her anxiety spike again. Usually when she was in trouble they kept a sense of humor, but at that moment they had none. Which meant whatever they had wanted her here for was serious. She reached for the beer, ignoring the fact that her parents were watching, and chugged it. She wasn't in the head space to deal with whatever this was about. Not after failing her exam earlier.

Alex waited for her to finish before clearing her throat. "There's really no easy way to say this." She was fidgeting slightly. If it weren't for the fact her mother never fidgeted Kelly would have never noticed.

"You two aren't getting divorced are you?" she thought she would try one more time to lighten the mood. "I could handle it but I don't think Titan could deal the separation."

This time Maggie laughed her head shaking. "No, no divorce, and if there was the dog would handle it fine."

Alex on the other hand remained stoic, which eventually trickled over to the rest of them. The longer they sat there the more nervous Kelly got. She had already lost her appetite, a rare happening, but not unheard off.

"What's this about?"

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this," Alex paused glancing at Maggie, who nodded. "It's about your dad."

Kelly froze not sure if she was hearing correctly. "My dad? What happened? Did something happen?" She could feel her panic building, they wouldn't have brought him up if there wasn't something wrong. She reached for her beer only to remember it was empty, she needed a drink.

"Kelly hey easy," Maggie started to reach for her hand but stopped. "I know you don't want to hear this but we thought you should be aware of the situation."

"What situation? What the hell is going on?"

She could feel the light start to collect around her legs, slowly moving up towards her torso. Alex seemed to notice immediately, she waved down the waitress and ordered a whiskey.

"You said this was over."

"Listen to me, Maggie is doing everything she can to stop his appeal, but there's a chance that he'll be released."

She slammed her fist into the table, unable to swallow her rage. It was too much. "I can't do this." She stood up, nearly knocking over the waitress as she set the whiskey on the table. "I'm not doing this." She grabbed the glass, slamming the shot.

"Kelly hang on."

"You said you were dealing with it so deal with it," Kelly said, refusing to look at either of her parents. "I'm going home, I'm not doing this."

This time when she started to leave neither of them tried to stop her. Alex dropped her head into her hands, while Maggie rubbed her shoulder.

"I don't want to hear 'I told you so'," she said.

"She'll cool off, she always does," Maggie said, "give her some time."

"I need a drink."

Maggie chuckled, "I think we both could use a drink."


	4. Chapter 4

**So its been over a month and I apologize. To be honest I didn't realize how long it had been. I just recently started a new job so along with being in class two days a week I'm also working part time, and I am terrible at time management. Like horrible. But I hope you're enjoying this story. So like always, thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you think and enjoy.**

Chapter 4

The city was quiet for once as Kara continued her patrol over the city. Not a robbery or fire in sight, she couldn't even hear anything wrong. It wasn't unusual for the city to find itself in lulls of peace, but it was still an odd concept to her. Sixteen years ago it was almost non-stop fighting, even a few years ago she had still found herself saving at least a person a day. Today only stood out because of the recent alien attacks on the city, they had been far more frequent as of late, one of them including that alien from a few days ago that took a chunk out of Kelly's arm. She feared it was only the calm before the storm, that something bigger and badder was headed their way.

"I think I'm going to call it a day Alex," Kara said over her comm, "I can't find anything worth investigating."

"Brainy picked up something strange on the radar, he's looking into it right now but if you could keep an eye out for a few more minutes that would be great," her sister said, sounding tired.

Kara knew things hadn't gone well with her niece the night before. Alex had called her after Maggie had gone to bed to fill her in on what had happened. Kelly was understandably scared, no one was blaming her for that. But from the sound of things Alex had at least hoped her to handle it better than she did.

"She'll come around Alex," Kara said, hoping her sister wouldn't redirect the conversation, "She always does."

She heard Alex sigh and could almost see her rubbing her eyes in her head. "I know, I'm just worried, you know how we Danvers are."

Kara chuckled, she knew exactly how they were, although Kara didn't go straight to a bottle of whiskey when she was in a bad place. She was the only one out of the four of them (that was of course, her, Maggie, Alex and Lena) that didn't drink on a regular basis.

"Lena said she was fine earlier. Probably just wants some time to herself." Kara scanned the city line using her x-ray vision to see past some of the taller buildings. "Anything on that radar ping?"

There was a pause while Alex went to talk with Brainy. Even though Kara could hear the conversation she was confused with what Alex told her. "It looks like Kelly is flying around."

She shouldn't have been. Right as Kara was leaving for patrol Kelly had come by the apartment to play Mario Party with Nick, Lori and one of Lori's friends. By her count Kelly would be there for at least another hour if the game was going the way it usually did.

"I'll go check it out, but she should still be with Lori."

Another paused follow by another deep sigh from Alex. "I'll call her. Be careful until I get back to you."

XXXXX

They were six turns in to Mario Party, Lori had inevitably pulled ahead leaving the rest of them to gang up on her. She was seconds away from stealing a star when her phone rang, distracting her enough to roll low and miss her goal. Cursing under her breath she reached behind her fishing for her phone. Her fingers finally found it and she answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Danvers."

"Kelly, hey its mom, listen," she could hear Alex hesitate, "Brainy picked up a kinetic signature a minute ago, was that you?"

Kelly glanced at Nick then Lori, shrugging at her cousin who was clearly listening in on the conversation. "No I'm still with Nick, Lori and her boyfriend- OW hey no hitting!" Lori stuck her tongue out at Kelly.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Uh huh."

"I'm not her boyfriend," Ben spoke up for the first time, looking anxious being caught in the middle of Lori and Kelly.

She could hear Alex talking to someone she assumed was Brainy on the other end of the line but she could barely tell what they were saying. If her mom was truly concerned she wouldn't be wasting time on the phone. Chances were it was a metahuman they were picking up, or an alien with kinetic powers. There were a lot of them, Kelly just happened to be one of the only Photokinetics in the country. From what she understood, from one of Brainy's rants, Photokinetics were extremely rare. Brainy had only run into them a number of times during his time in the future.

"I might need you, can you stay on the phone?"

"Yeah of course," she said. "Nick play for me will you?"

"What about the mini games?"

She glared at him. "Figure it out." Nick had no time to argue before she shoved her controller into his hands and headed out of the room. Lori looked like she was about to follow her but a quick glance from Kelly told her to stay put.

"Do you need me?"

"Hang on."

XXXXX

She hadn't seen it coming, she hadn't even heard it coming. One second all she could hear was the sound of the city, the next Alex was shouting the kinetic wasn't Kelly and something hard connected with her jaw nearly sending her crashing into the side of a building. Kara was able to catch herself before impact quickly flying away from the building, hoping to avoid damage as much as possible.

The figure in front of her could have easily been her niece, if her niece wore armor that was pure black, and instead of the yellow light she was used to seeing, this figure was surrounded by a glowing red light, almost like a red sun.

"You're a surprisingly hard woman to find Supergirl," she said her voice muffled by her mask. "I actually had to put up an effort. Just my luck you were out patrolling today."

"Who are you?"

She couldn't see because of the mask but Kara knew the woman was grinning. "I am the Warden, and you?" the Warden laughed, "you are going to die."

Warden moved faster than Kara could track her. One moment she was in front of the super, the next Kara felt a fist connect with her chest and she was plummeting to the ground. She hadn't even hit the ground before a kick connected with her ribs, had she been human they would have broken from the force of the blow. When she hit the ground she hit the ground hard. Dirt and gravel flew up from around her, creating a crater that she lay motionless in for half a second trying to recover. Warden stood at the edge of the crater, watching her from behind her mask.

If Kara didn't act fast she was afraid Warden would do exactly what she set out to do. She had fought Reign until she was bloody and barely conscious, she could do the same now. What bothered her about this was how random it was. With Reign, the Daxamites and Non she had at least known their goal. For this Warden all she knew was that she wanted her dead, no rhyme or reason.

Getting to her feet was difficult, feeling like she had been punched through several buildings, but she managed to do it. Setting her feet apart and raising her arm, ready to fight. She expected Warden to charge at her, to wear her down.

Instead Warden started clapping her hands together slowly, a deep chuckle rising from her chest. "I admire the fact you're willing to put up a fight," she sighed tilting her head in a way that Kara found familiar but also completely foreign. "Truth be told Supergirl I would let you live if I had the choice. But that isn't how things are going to go."

"Why me?"

"Would you rather I go after Flare?"

The mention of her niece set her ablaze. She shot forward, connecting a heavy punch to the Warden's face. She stumbled back but didn't fall, the light around her growing brighter than before.

"You know who she is?" Warden said, "Excellent."

XXXXX

Alex watched in dismay as this Warden lunged after her sister again. Every punch seemed to weaken Kara more and more, to the point where after a particularly hard hit Kara collapsed to her knees, unable to stand. Kara couldn't win, she could see that, but she wasn't sure sending Kelly in was a good idea. She might end up exactly like Kara, or worse.

But her sister was fading, and they didn't have a team ready to bring in the assist. Kelly was her only option. She had to let her go.

"Kelly get to the pier now, Kara is badly hurt," she said, her voice low, "get there and disengage."

"On it."

She could hear Kelly give an excuse to Lori and Nick, apologizing for having to run into work. Alex just hoped she would make it in time, Kelly was fast, faster than Kara, but the fight had taken a turn. Kara was now on her back with the Warden standing above her, a foot on her chest. She couldn't tell because of the quality of the video but it looked almost as if light was moving away from Kara. Alex knew kinetics could manipulate energy, but the amount that Warden was manipulating light was unheard of.

Brainy glanced up at Alex, worry heavy on his face. In recent years he had become much more adept at showing emotion, for which Alex was grateful. She shook her head, having to idea what she should say or how she should feel. It wasn't right putting her own daughter at risk to save her sister, there should have been another way.

"Alex?" Brainy pointed to the screen in front of them just as Warden lifted Kara's limp body from the ground and took off towards the sky.

"Please hurry Kelly."

XXXXX

She didn't like running into a fight with damaged armor, she just hadn't gotten around to fixing it since her encounter with the alien. But her mom had sounded scared, something that Kelly rarely heard, so she ignored how torn up her gear was and took off to get help her aunt.

Alex had said the piers, but when she arrived all she saw was the aftermath of a fight, no Kara or bad guy in sight. Only after Alex came over the comm telling her to look up that she saw Kara. Or more precisely, she saw Supergirl with a torn cape and suit plummeting back to the Earth. Kelly noticed immediately that Kara wasn't moving, she was completely limp. If she hit the ground she could very easily get hurt.

Without thinking, Kelly took off after her, hoping to catch her before she hit the ground. She made it to her in record time, but she hadn't accounted for Kara's velocity. Catching her caused Kelly to lose all forward motion and soon she was crashing to the ground with Kara. She groaned but recovered fairly quick, light swirling around her as she laid Kara flat on the ground.

"Supergirl, you still with me?" she shook her slightly, they had gained a crowd of observers which meant she had to be extra careful. "She's breathing but she's in bad shape."

"Get out of there Kelly, forget about the Warden and bring Kara here," her mother sounded even more urgent than before.

She was going to do as Alex said, she didn't want to risk getting innocent people hurt, and Kara need help. She was so close to running when she felt someone behind her. The amount of energy was almost over powering. She turned around coming face to face with Warden. The woman was taller than her, but not by much, her face was hidden much like hers. She noticed the light emanating from around Warden was red, unlike her own that was golden, her armor was also pure black instead of teal and red (a horrible combination but Kelly liked it).

"Finally," she shouted. "I've been waiting for this moment."

Kelly clenched her jaw, reaching for her staff which she extended to its full length. "You won't win a fight with me, leave while you still have the chance." She could hear Alex in her ear telling her to not engage, to just run, but she ignored it. She wouldn't make it very far if the Warden was a Photokinetic like her.

"And miss the chance to fight you?" Warden laughed, red light starting to twist around her arms. "Never."

They clashed, red against yellow, fist against staff. They hit with enough force to throw them both back. Kelly was first to get her footing, already feeling the advantage of the Haranel, the difference in their strength clear. She could win, she just had to be smart, but she had to do it fast, Kara was already looking worse.

She charged forward, staff raised, not letting Warden recover. Her staff came down hard across Warden's mask. Warden's shoulder's dropped before her knees buckled. Kelly didn't relent, bringing her staff up to catch her in the chin, sending Warden flying back, tumbling in the dirt.

"This is my city, and this is your last chance, surrender before I'm forced to beat you down," She said pointing her staff at Warden.

A sound rose from the Warden's throat that caused her to stiffen. Warden was…laughing- or cackling was more accurate. She propped herself up on her elbows, so she could see Kelly. It was unsettling to the point it made her skin crawl. Kelly could see her eyes behind the mask, they were almost crazed, like she was having fun.

"That the best you got?" Warden taunted. "Pathetic."

The light around Kelly grew brighter as her anger rose. The Warden was losing, she had no reason to be so cocky, so confident that Kelly was going easy on her. She clenched her fist around the quarter staff. If the Warden wanted more, Kelly was obligated to oblige. She launched herself forward, collecting light energy around her fist and weapon, priming herself for the finishing blow. She heard Warden laughing, saw her getting to her feet and then…

Then she hit the ground hard, her ears ringing from a world shattering noise. Kelly looked up from the visor of her helmet to see Warden standing over her, holding a device. She screamed at the intense pain in her head, clawing at her helmet trying to get the noise to stop. Warden kicked her in the side, once then twice until she was lying on her back in agony. She felt a boot on her throat, pressing down, making it hard to breathe.

"Are you…going to kill me now?" Kelly struggled to speak with the boot on her neck, and the device still had her ears ringing.

"Kill you?" Warden scoffed, "I don't want to kill you Flare. Far from it. I simply what to extend an offer to you. You could be so much more, you have so much potential, but it's held back by this notion that all you are meant to do is someone else's bidding. Think about it together we could be unstoppable. All you have to do is cut the ties."

"You know nothing about me," Kelly spat.

The noise suddenly grew louder sending another wave of pain through her skull. Warden's boot left her throat. "We'll see soon enough."

Kelly could barely see through the tears in her eyes, but she was sure that Warden picked up her quarter staff and started towards Kara. Instinct took over, she rolled onto her stomach, trying to drag her way over to Supergirl and the woman looming over her. She didn't make it far before her skull began to ring again.

Warden stood over Supergirl, Flare's staff in hand. She was disappointed that the fight had been so brief. It had been expected, Kryptonians were fairly susceptible to kinetics but even those who were weakened by her powers put up more of a fight. She might have taken it a bit too far, Warden enjoyed a challenge, even if it was a self-imposed one.

She spun the staff in her hand, it was such an awkward weapon to her, but something about using it to kill Supergirl made her giddy. Her fingers twitched as she began to draw the ambient light from around the unconscious super. It only took a minute before she saw the change in her, she was vulnerable now. Warden raised the staff, pausing to take in the sight. She didn't make a habit out of killing, it always seemed like a waste of time, but sometimes she had no choice.

"It's nothing personal," she whispered. "It never was."

The staff came down, poised to impale her. It was a fraction on an inch from piercing the super's skin when something impacted Warden's shoulder causing her to stumble and drop the staff. She looked around wildly trying to figure out what had happened when her eyes fell upon multiple police officers. The one closest to her was a woman, a detective, with her gun still trained on her. A growl rose from her throat as blood began to trickle down her arm.

Another shot hit her square in the chest, but it didn't penetrate her thick armor. The detective kept moving towards her, firing again, this bullet pinging off her mask. Warden focused on gathering light around her arm, a few dead cops were not skin off her bones. Only she didn't get the chance, Ms. Thorul's voice was suddenly in her ear, telling her to retreat. Annoyed she used the ropes of light around her fingers to pull the staff towards her before launching it at the group of cops. The detective and two others jumped out of the way as it went sailing by, giving Warden the time she needed to make a hasty escape.

XXXXX

Maggie saw Kelly collapsed on the ground, struggling to get to Kara. She wanted to run to her, to help, but she couldn't, she had to make sure everyone else was alright first. The staff that had been thrown at them had embedded in one of the cruisers. Two officers were currently trying to figure out how to get it out.

"Everyone alright? Anyone hurt?"

No one besides Kelly and Kara seemed injured in any way allowing Maggie to turn her attention to Kelly. Her daughter was struggling to get to her feet and was panting heavily behind her helmet. Maggie went to her holding out her hand to assist but was quickly denied.

"Handle the crowd," she said her voice hoarse. "I need to get Supergirl out of here."

"Are you sure?"

Kelly met her gaze, tilting her head slightly in the way Maggie always did. "You missed the start of the fight, I had her beat, if she hadn't cheated I would have won."

Maggie nodded slowly not allowing her concern to show. Kelly was looking more stable by the second, whatever had transpired before they arrived hadn't had much of a lasting effect. Kara on the other hand needed medical attention and soon.

"Go," Maggie said, "hurry up."

Kelly went to Kara immediately momentarily struggling to get her aunt onto her feet so she could sling her arm over her shoulder. With one last nod towards Maggie, Kelly took off with Kara, disappearing in a flash of brilliant yellow light.

Maggie went back to her officers, directing them to take statements from anyone who may have seen the fight. The two officers that were trying to remove the staff had given up. Maggie, knowing the trick to it went over to it and hit the hidden button Kelly used to collapse it. There was a scraping of metal as it collapsed into itself, freeing it from the cruiser.

"Tape this area off will you?"

They went to do as she asked while she scanned the area. The damage was fairly minimal, thanks to Kara keeping the fighting contained to one area. There was nothing much she could do except take statements with the other officers before heading to the DEO.

XXXXX

Alex was pacing the command center when Kelly arrived with Kara slumped against her shoulder. She rushed to her sister and daughter with agents in tow. Kara was in bad shape, blood seeping from her nose and a cut on her lip. Her breathing was labored and uneven. Kelly didn't look to worse for wear but it was hard to tell behind her armor.

"Get her under the yellow sun lamps, I'll be there in a minute," she ordered two of the agents who took Kara from Kelly.

With the weight removed from her shoulder Kelly slumped slightly, but she didn't remove her helmet. Alex reached out to support her but Kelly shook her head.

"Supergirl needs you more," she said. "I'm fine, I promise."

Alex hesitated, Kara would be alright after some time under the lamps, taking the time to examine Kelly wouldn't hurt.

"Please just go take care of her, I just want to get out of this gear."

This time Alex let go of her daughter's shoulder. She didn't agree but she wasn't going to argue. Kelly didn't look seriously hurt, she could always be examined after she was out of her armor. She nodded at Alex before brushing past her towards the locker room. Alex glanced after her one last time before jogging off in the direction of the med-bay. Kelly would be alright, she always was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Holy fuck I finished this chapter so fast hope you guys like it. Next chapter should be in a couple weeks I hope. So thanks for reading, please tell me what you think and as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 5

"That bitch," Warden growled, ripping off her armor and chucking her mask across the room, nearly hitting someone.

Her face and chest were bruised from where she had been shot and her shoulder hadn't stopped bleeding. She would have to dig the bullet out herself before it would start healing. Ms. Thorul sat nearby, silent as usual, observing her as she prepped her wound. She wasn't the type to get her hands dirty, she liked to stay back and let others handle it. Even when it came to her precious Warden she let someone else deal with it.

"You were distracted," Ms. Thorul said simply. "I've never known you to be so absent minded Warden."

"It's a waste of time trying to kill Supergirl," she said. "If I'm going to kill her I'm going to have some fun doing it. I wasn't expecting Flare to be so powerful, or the fucking NCPD showing up."

She dug into her arm with a pair of pliers searching for the bullet, it hurt like hell but she grit her teeth, ignoring the pain. On her Earth the police had been cowards, running at the first sign of any meta-human involvement. Here there was no fear of people like the Flare, they worked together for some reason. It made her sick.

"More powerful than you," Ms. Thorul inquired.

"She's different," was all Warden said.

Grunting she tore the pliers from her arm holding the bullet up to examine it. "We need her." She tossed the pliers aside, and picking up a needle already prepared with the stitch.

"We'll get her soon enough," Ms. Thorul said, rising. "Come here, let me do that."

Warden handed her the needle, leaning back on the table to allow Ms. Thorul access. Her fingers where gentle as she cleaned around the wound, being more careful than Warden had been just moments before. It was a rare show of affection from her boss, but not completely new. Ms. Thorul had her moments where she showed she truly cared about Warden. She didn't need the affection, she knew how the older woman felt about her. Still, sometime it was nice to have her show she cared.

She didn't flinch when Ms. Thorul began to stitch the wound. The dressing wasn't completely necessary, she would be fully healed in a few hours, but it kept the bleeding to a minimum, which is what she wanted.

"All the more reason we need Donovan," Ms. Thorul said. "From what I understand he knows who Flare is."

"Can we trust him?" Warden had never met Donovan, but she knew he wasn't a good man.

Ms. Thorul smiled as she finished dressing her wound. "Of course not," she ran her hand through Warden's short hair. "That's why I have you. I know you would never let him do anything that would jeopardized our mission."

"Of course." Warden rose, taking a deep breath. "What do we do about Marrison?"

She sighed, Marrison would be a problem until they were successful in killing Supergirl. They could simply kill him, but that brought about the issue of Marrison's handler. Ms. Thorul knew they needed to deal with it one way or another, she just hoped that they could hold off on anything drastic until Donovan was released.

"For now we deal with him," she said. "But if he has Donovan out, well, you do what you do best."

Warden gave her a curt nod. She hated Marrison and would be happy to kill him if that was what Ms. Thorul wanted. She would do anything for her boss, including murder.

XXXXX

Kelly tore off her armor, her chest tightening in a full blown panic attack. She had held it together long enough to get into the locker room but as soon as the door shut behind her it had taken over. Her helmet was tossed aside revealing to her that her ears had been bleeding. She collapsed against a random locker, trying to slow her breathing. The last time she had had a panic attack like this had been in high school.

Stress brought it on, but she couldn't pinpoint what had caused it to be so severe. Warden had gained the advantage after using a sonic device, it wasn't that she was stronger. Maybe it was because of Kara, she'd never seen Kara hurt like that. She was unstoppable, she shouldn't have gone down that easily. But that wasn't it either, it had been what the Warden had said. Had she been right? Was she being held back by her ties to her family? No, she knew that wasn't true, she was who she was because of them.

"Kelly?"

Kelly looked up to see Maggie standing over her, a concerned look passing over her features. Maggie kneeled down beside her daughter, attempting to wipe some of the dried blood from the side of Kelly's face.

"Is Kara okay?" she refused to meet her mother's eyes, afraid that she might break.

"She's a little worse for wear, but she'll be alright," Maggie said taking a seat next to Kelly.

Maggie noticed Kelly shift out of the corner of her eye. Taking a risk she extended her arm around Kelly's shoulders pulling her closer. Kelly allowed it, resting her head on Maggie's shoulder.

"I'm proud of you for today," Maggie said. "I want you to know that."

"I should have run…"

Her mom chuckled. "Danvers don't run," she pulled away to look Kelly in her eye. "I can't tell you how many times Alex ignored orders to run, she just wasn't capable of it, and neither are you."

They were silent for a while. Kelly wasn't sure if she could tell her mom what Warden had said to her. She was afraid it would cause a problem, force her parents to keep her out of the fight. But Maggie would never do that, Alex wouldn't either, but they would be concerned. They deserved to know, they needed to know. She didn't have to tell them everything that had been said, just the important part.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"Warden said something to me, before you arrived…" Kelly's gaze dropped to the floor. "I don't think she expected me to be much of a challenge…she wasn't trying to kill me. She let me go."

"Did she say why?"

Kelly shook her head, already regretting what she was about to say. "No, at least I don't think so, I couldn't really hear."

Maggie hugged her tighter but didn't say anything, her stomach twisted in a knot. She didn't like lying to her parents, but right now they didn't need to know. It would be safer that way.

"Come on kiddo, Alex will want to take a look at you."

Kelly nodded, getting to her feet and extending a hand out to Maggie. Her mother took it, allowing Kelly to pull her to her feet. She smiled at her daughter, ruffling her hair before starting out of the locker room. Kelly grabbed her helmet, ignoring the rest of her gear to follow after her. When she caught up with Maggie, she was holding something in her hand.

"I think you dropped this."

She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly before taking the staff offered to her. "Yeah… sorry about that."

Maggie chuckled, punching her daughter in the shoulder. "It missed all of my officers, no big deal."

XXXXX

The thing about Miles Donovan was he liked to cause trouble. No matter who he was working for, whether it be Cadmus or the Children of Liberty, he like to cause trouble. It was something he had always done. His first wife had hated it, his second wife had tolerated it until the trouble had spilled down to encompass their daughter. She had left after that, leaving the girl to him. He resented her for that, leaving a toddler in his care, a child that was a freak, inhuman. He had dealt with it, at least her thought he had until Supergirl and the FBI showed up at his door and took his daughter away, sending him to prison. Seventeen years he had spent in prison, waiting for his chance to get back at that agent who took his girl away. Seventeen years he had waited for his revenge, and now it was at his fingertips.

He had never expected to see Ms. Thorul again, they had met once, years ago when he still had Kelly. She had made him see the benefit of a special child like Kelly. She made him realize what Kelly could be should she be pushed in the right direction. The Children of Liberty had been so near sighted in their goal, but with meta-humans like Kelly their goals could go so much further. Back then the Warden had been an enigma, a cloaked woman who didn't speak except for the occasional grunt. He wondered if she was still like that or if she had lightened up in the past seventeen years.

He got his answer mere seconds after entering the room. Ms. Thorul was seated at a makeshift desk, while Warden stood off to the side, sharpening the blade of an axe. The former acknowledge him as he came up to them while the latter remained focused on her weapon. Miles smiled widely at Ms. Thorul, a gesture that she did not return.

"I see Mr. Marrison kept him promise," she said simply.

"What's the deal anyway?" Miles said, placing his hands on the desk to lean closer to her. "What took you so long?"

"There was a complication involving the NCPD," Ms. Thorul said. "It's been dealt with accordingly."

"So what's the next step," he asked. "Seventeen years is a long time to wait."

"Unfortunately we've run into a snag," she said, glancing at Warden. "It's nothing we can't work around but it will take some planning."

"Let's get to-"

Miles was stopped midway through his sentence by a door being violently thrown open. Warden reacted in a snap, placing herself between the intruder and Ms. Thorul, her axe held tightly in her hand. Mr. Marrison stomped through the door making his way to Ms. Thorul. He shoved Warden aside (something Miles didn't think possible, but he saw Warden snarl).

"What the fuck have you done?" he growled at her.

Ms. Thorul remained stoic, lacing her fingers together, resting her hands on her desk. "I'm sorry, what exactly are you referring to?" Her face betrayed nothing but the hairs on the back of Miles' neck stood on end. She was terrifying.

"Don't give me that," he spat. "You were supposed to kill Supergirl! According to every goddamned news station in the city she's not dead."

"We weren't expecting Flare or the NCPD," Ms. Thorul said. "We'll be better prepared next time."

"There will be no next time," Mr. Marrison said. "You're done, all of you."

She sighed. It was inevitable that they would come to this point, she had wished to avoid this for as long as possible, but it seemed that Marrison had no patience. Warden met her gaze and nodded, stepping in front of Miles so she was behind Marrison. Miles took a step back. He was enjoying the show but he wasn't sure where this was going.

"If that's what you want," she said with a smile.

"Bitch."

Miles didn't even see it happen. One moment Warden was standing there, the next there was a crack and Marrison collapsed to the ground, his neck broken. Ms. Thorul sighed once more, leaning back in her seat, clearly uninterested in what had just happened.

"What should I do with him?" Warden circled around Marrison's body only to kick his leg. "Give him to the NCPD?"

Ms. Thorul thought for a moment. "Yes, put him somewhere he'll be found easily, make sure the Science Division gets the case. I want to be able to keep tabs on them." Warden nodded, before motioning to Miles.

"Help me with this."

Miles did as he was told, taking both of Marrison's arms in his hand. Warden grabbed ahold of his legs and together the two carried the lifeless body out of the door he had entered from. Ms. Thorul remained in her chair as the two carried the body away. It would take them some time to get rid of the body. Enough time for her to begin to formulate a plan, they would have to move up their timeline now that Marrison was dead. His boss wouldn't take too kindly to his death, they couldn't risk him interfering with their true plan. It did leave open whether or not they would go ahead and kill Supergirl. They didn't have to, but it seemed awfully wasteful not to. It didn't matter, she could always change plans. After all she wasn't working for anyone, not truly, they all worked for her, even if they didn't know it. Which was exactly how she liked it.

XXXXX

It was rare that both Danvers family's found themselves at the DEO at the same time, let alone crammed into a small interrogation room. It was a tight fight, especially for six of them. Brainy had opted out of the meeting, something about not interfering with the timeline or what-not. Kara was still a little wobbly on her feet but she had insisted they not have the meeting in the med-bay. Kelly couldn't blame her, she hated the med-bay just as much as she hated the hospital. If she could avoid them she would. She had even asked Alex to examine her in a different room for that reason, luckily nothing was wrong.

"Alright, what do we know?" Alex crossed her arms over her chest looking between Kelly and Kara.

"There's another Photokinetic in town and she can render Kara useless?" Kelly offered with a shrug. "I mean what was that like Kara?"

Kara glanced at Lena taking a deep breath. The event had clearly been traumatic for her, being rendered completely powerless and nearly being killed. It was enough to make even the toughest of them bulk.

"It was like being under a red sun," she said. "I couldn't feel any of my powers, it was like she took them. Absorbed them somehow."

"Is that even possible," Maggie asked.

"Theoretically yes," Lena spoke up her gaze falling on Kelly. "It makes sense a kinetic would have the ability to do that. I think with practice Kelly could do the same. If I'm right, and I believe I am, all Warden did was remove the ambient light from around Kara, making her powerless."

"Seems a bit overpowered to me," Kelly said earning glances from everyone.

"I think you already meet that mark," Maggie said. "Photokinetic with Haranel in her blood. You had Warden in a corner until she used that sonic device."

She wasn't wrong. The entire fight had been one sided. Kelly had held the advantage the entire time until Warden used the device. The ringing had been unbearable, to the point it had brought tears to her eyes. Without it Kelly would have taken Warden down. If that was her only advantage it seemed like a simple solution. Improve her helmet to cancel sonic noises or destroy the device, simple.

"What else," Alex inquired.

"She's definitely working for someone else," Maggie said. "She was intent on taking on my officers when something, or someone, stopped her."

"So she's not working alone."

Kelly shook her head, remembering what Warden had said to her before returning her attention to Kara. "She wanted me to join her, but something in the way she said it sounded like she wasn't the only one. Mom's right, someone is pulling the strings."

Alex nodded to herself. "We need a plan. I'm open to suggestions." Everyone was silent for the longest time. None of them seemed sure of what they could do. Kelly had an idea but she knew Alex would fight her, so she didn't speak up. Lena looked like she might have an idea, but a quick shake of the head she dismissed whatever she was thinking.

"Mom and I should handle her," Lori spoke for the first time, earning glances from everyone.

Lena and Kara both shook their heads at their daughter.

"It's too dangerous for you to get involved Lori," Lena said.

"Your mother is right," Kara agreed. "Leave it to me."

"No."

Everyone turned to her. She crossed her arms, mimicking her mother but keeping her eyes on her helmet that sat on the metal table between them. "You and Lori are a liability in this," she said. "If aunt Lena is right, Warden will just drain your powers. Me on the other hand," she grinned, spinning her helmet around so it faced them, "I'm a kinetic like her, and we already know I'm stronger."

Lena nodded. "I can modify your helmet to reduce the effect of the sonic device." She looked to Alex. Kelly's mother didn't say anything, deep in thought again. Kelly waited with baited breath for her mother to denounce the idea.

"She'll need a new suit," she said finally, "How fast can you get that done?"

"Two days," Lena said, "three at most."

"Do it."

"Seriously?" Kelly was shocked that Alex was agreeing to her suggestion.

Alex nodded. "I don't seen any other options," she sighed turning towards Kelly, "but it I let you do this you will follow my orders to the T. No questions and no going rogue, is that understood?"

Kelly grinned, barely able to stop herself from jumping up and down. "You have my word, you're the boss."

"Then it's settled," Maggie said. "Kelly takes the lead on this."

"Congrats kiddo, you finally get what you wanted," Alex said.

"I won't let you down," she said. "I swear."

She only hoped that she was right. The last thing she wanted to do was let her family down, or worse, let the city down. She would defend it until she was bloody and broken. She made a silent vow to herself to do everything in her power to bring the Warden, and anyone she was working with, down.

XXXXX

"So is 'Warden' a given name or did you pick that out yourself?" Miles loved poking the bear, even if the bear could flatten him like a pancake.

Warden let out what he could only describe as a growl. What kind of person growled? It was strange to him. Sure people made noises close to a growl but the noise that left Warden was one hundred percent a full blown growl. It was unsettling but also reassuring. It told him she was no pussy, Warden had backbone and should be feared. He liked that in a woman. None of his previous wives had ever had any backbone, and his daughter, well she had been much too young to have stood up to him, but he was sure she was as soft as with people who had raised her.

"Come on, we're on the same team. What's your real name? Allison? Betty? Oooh Madeline?"

Warden straighten up, to the point she stood over him. Miles wasn't a small man by any means but Warden was a towering figure, even out of her riot gear.

"My name is Warden," she said. "That's all it is and all it's ever been. Now shut the fuck up."

Miles raised his hands up in defense. He liked pushing his luck, but he knew when to stop. Warden was one of those serious types, unable to take even the lightest of jabs from another person. Her boss was the same way, which made him uncomfortable but only a little. He could deal with the both of them so long as he didn't piss them off too badly.

"You don't like me do you?"

Warden sighed, her shoulders sagging. "I don't trust you," she said. "I need to know you are loyal to Ms. Thorul."

He had suspected there had been something going on between the two of them ever since he had first met them years ago, but he had no solid evidence. He honestly didn't see the appeal. Ms. Thorul was an attractive woman, Warden was no, she was too hard and stoic. The only way Ms. Thorul would ever lower herself to that level was if the sex was mind blowing and Miles doubted it was. Though he wasn't about to ask, that would be a great way to get himself killed.

"Look," he started, shoving his hands in his pockets, "if she lets me get my payback I'll do whatever she wants, even if it's doing you."

Red light flared up around her to the point it looked like she was on fire. He took a step back realizing he had gone too far.

"Easy, I was joking about the last part."

The light didn't dissipate, it only grew in intensity. "If it weren't for the fact that we need you Donovan, I would skewer you." She shoved him against the wall. "I don't like you, I don't like your type. You're a trouble maker. We don't need that around here. But Ms. Thorul insists that we keep you around and I have no choice but to keep it that way. But don't push it, even she has her limits."

"Alright, alright, damn," he said once she released him. "You don't have to threaten me, I got it. Just fill me in on the plan will you?"

"Do you know anything about Flare?"

"Is that what she's calling herself now?" Miles couldn't help but laugh. "Fucking pathetic."

"You know who she is?"

"Don't you?"

She didn't, but Ms. Thorul probably did. If that was the case she probably had a reason for not telling her. Testing her maybe? Or perhaps she just wanted Donovan to get under her skin, to show her he wasn't as much of a liability as she liked to believe. It would do her no good to confront Ms. Thorul about it. She just had to bite her lip and let Miles gloat for a bit.

"Flare is my daughter," he said. "The one they took from me."

It made sense. Ms. Thorul wouldn't have been so adamant to get Miles out of prison otherwise. Warden understood what she meant about breaking the Flare, if she was traumatized from her childhood there was a possibility she could be molded to what they needed. Miles would be what pushed her over the edge. She had to admit she was impressed with the idea. Psychological torture was much more interesting than physical torture. She loved to fight but in this instance it probably wouldn't go the way she wanted. Though she would be a little disappointed if she didn't get another chance to fight the Flare.

"So you do have a purpose for being here," she said shaking her head. "Just stay out of my way and we'll get along fine."

"Whatever you say boss," he grinned pushing passed her. "Whatever you say."


	6. Chapter 6

**Another chapter is here, sorry about the delay I've had the worst writers block and a lot of work. But I got it done and look forward to writing more. Thanks everyone for the support. So thanks for reading, please tell me what you think, and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 6

The coffee was lukewarm, bitter, not even remotely appetizing, but it was all the department had and at the moment Maggie needed it. After a late night going over tactics with Alex an early morning call into the station was the last thing she needed. Nevertheless, there she was looking over video that a homicide detective had brought over. NCPD had been called to a scene earlier in the morning thinking it nothing but a homicide, until they received video that showed a figure cloaked in red light leaving the body. They had immediately called her, eager to hand over the case. The other departments still had little respect for the Science Division, but a few officers respected her enough to lend assistance and give over a cause they knew they were little help with.

"Does the victim have a name," Maggie asked, rubbing her eyes.

"No ma'am, we're still looking into it," one of her officers said, she couldn't tell which.

"Look faster," she said glancing at the two officers in her office. "Once you find out who he is I want everything on him. Work, family, friends, everything."

"And the person in the tape?" the officer said, nodding towards the frozen image. "What should we do about them?"

Maggie sighed. After yesterday she wanted to stay as far out of the way of the DEO as possible. Warden was dangerous and clearly had no reservations about hurting her officers. As much as she wanted to do something about it, they didn't exactly have the means to go after the Warden. Alex had a plan for that, Maggie would leave it to the DEO, and they would focus on the murder.

"Nothing," she said. "We aren't equipped to handle a something like that. We'll leave them to Supergirl and Flare."

"You sure put a lot of faith in alien's lieutenant." Detective Cordova said.

"If it weren't for those 'aliens' detective half the people in this department would be dead," she said, rising from her desk. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a stack of paperwork to fill out and I'd like to get it done before lunch."

The two officers excused themselves shutting the door behind them leaving Maggie to herself. She sat back down, rubbing her chin as she took another look at the security footage her officers had brought her. It wasn't an accident that Warden had been caught on camera. If anything she had done it on purpose, she wanted them to know she had killed their John Doe. Something was going on and whatever it was didn't sit well with Maggie. Against her better judgement she called Alex. NCPD would keep the case, there would be no argument about that. But the DEO needed to be aware of the situation, and she would be damned to keep information from Alex when their daughter was stuck in the middle of the whole thing.

Alex answered on the forth ring. "Danvers." In the nineteen years they had known each other they never changed how they greeted one another over the phone. There was something nostalgic about it neither of them wanted to part with. Maggie smiled remembering how they first spoke to one another, arguing about jurisdiction.

"I'm sending you security footage pulled from a crime scene today," Maggie said. "I'd appreciate it if you could take a look at it, see if I'm missing anything."

She heard Alex chuckle, "I can do that," she said. "What's this about?"

"Warden."

Her response was met with silence. She knew Alex was thinking and whatever it was probably wasn't good. After they had agreed that Kelly would take point on the Warden issue they had spent the rest of the day discussing options while Kara recovered and Lena went to work on Kelly's new suit. They had both agree to continue looking for alternate solutions to the problem, anything that could keep Kelly back from the center of everything. Especially after what Kelly told them about Warden wanting to recruit her. They both knew Kelly would never turn on them but they also knew she was keeping something from them. And that had them both worried.

"I don't think I need to tell you to be careful," Alex said breaking the silence. "I'll let you know if we find anything."

"Thank you," Maggie ran her hand through her hair. "I'll keep you in the loop."

"Alright, love you Mags."

"You too," the line went dead before she could finish so she spoke to the empty room. "Forever…"

XXXXX

Working for L-Corp could be pretty boring, especially as security. No one messed with Lena Luthor anymore, except for the occasional reporter and other CEOs, but even then that was rare. Lena was a respected business woman and member of the community. She had saved countless people with her technological innovations, people were grateful to her. And most seemed to realize and accept she was nothing like the rest of her family. There were still days when a disgruntled something-or-other showed up at the building demanding to see Lena.

"You, hey you," a man came up to her getting into her face, "you work here right?"

Kelly glanced down at the L-Corp logo on her t-shirt, then to the one on her work pants before looking back at the man.

"Unless I don't know how to read, yes," she said pointing at the patch on her shirt that read security. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah you can help me," he spat shoving a finger into her chest, "I want to talk to your boss."

Kelly was easily half a foot taller than the man but he didn't seem intimidated by her. Even after she shoved his hand away.

"Do you have an appointment?" She had half the mind to throw him out the front door even if he did. She didn't like to be touched by random strangers, especially rude ones.

"What do you think?"

"I think you should come back when you have an appointment."

She didn't give him much time to argue before leading him to the door. "Mrs. Luthor is a busy woman, and I'm sure she would hear your grievances out if you make an appointment." She pulled the door shut, keeping a grasp on it until the man stormed off. She breathed a sigh of relief, he had been the second person in that day demanding to see her aunt. If any more came in it would start to be a problem.

Once she was sure the man wasn't coming back she went back over to the security desk. Her shift wasn't over for another three hours, which didn't seem like a lot of time but it would feel like forever.

An hour later she was still sitting behind the desk picking at a loose piece of wood. She found the idea of asking Lena to leave early was tempting, but she had never left early and she doubt she ever would. She was half asleep when she noticed Kara come through the front door. Kelly sat up in her seat as her aunt approached her with a bright smile.

"Hard at work Kelly?" she teased.

"All day everyday aunt Kara," she said. "You here to see Lena?"

"She'd forget to eat if I didn't stop by during the day," she said holding up a bag from Noonan's.

Kelly couldn't help but smile. "You're a good wife." Kara's face lit up a blush creeping down her neck. She may have been Supergirl, hero of National City in secret, but her aunt, her real aunt was an honest to God cinnamon roll. Anything to do with Lena would have her in a puddle. Her parent's didn't really get like that. They were tough as nails most of the time, but there were moments Kelly remembered from when she was younger when her parents acted like two teenagers in love. They were a mystery to her sometimes unlike her aunts who told anyone who would listen how amazing the other was. There wasn't a day that went by where Kelly didn't sit around Lena's office listening to her aunt gush about something Kara did. (Occasionally she would gush about Lori but Kelly usually stopped her, she had enough of an inferiority complex about her cousin).

"Head on up. If she's busy I'm sure Jesse will let you know." Kelly glanced off to the side noticing another guard headed her way. "I've gotta go meet mom at Noonan's."

Kara caught her as she was rounding the desk in a tight embrace, tight enough that if she had been anyone else it would have broken bones. Kelly hugged her back briefly. It wasn't very professional of her but as her mother would sometimes say 'fuck professionalism'. If Kara didn't want to wait outside of Lena's office she would have just flown up, of course not everyone knew she could do that.

"Kel, come by later would you?" Kara said as she pulled away. "I want to talk to you about a couple things."

"Sure," Kelly grinned tilting her head to the side. "I'll bring pot stickers."

She watched as her aunt nodded then headed towards the elevator with a wave. Kelly returned the wave before she handed the keys over to the guard taking over for the late shift. He thanked her as he sat down allowing her to go ahead and leave.

XXXXX

Donovan pulled his hoodie tighter around him, his cap pulled down close to his sunglasses, to anyone on the street he looked like some random person. It was odd being out in the world again after seventeen years. He wanted nothing more than to buy a bottle of rum and get wasted, but it appeared as if Ms. Thorul was all work and no play. At least when it came to him. She seemed to let the Warden out to play whenever she pleased. He didn't like their relationship, it made him sick to his stomach. Warden acted all big and tough, but when it came down to it she bended to Ms. Thorul's will without question.

He lit a cigarette, something he could at least enjoy without the Warden breathing down his neck. All this recon business was boring to him. Donovan had always been a hitter, someone who hit first and asked questions later. It was why he was so well regarded with the Children of Liberty and Cadmus before that. Now Warden was the one doing all the heavy lifting. His only job was to get under Kelly's skin by any means necessary. He had just the way of doing that, the only problem was finding the right opening. Alex Danvers needed to pay for taking his daughter away from him. He would make sure she paid her debt in full.

"Smoking is bad for your health, you know."

Donovan turned towards a lone woman standing not too far from him. He grinned at her, blowing out a puff of smoke in her direction. "So is butting into other people's business, darlin'." He flicked the cigarette towards her, grinning as she started to scream obscenities at him while he walked away.

He had to get moving if he wanted to learn anything. According to Warden, Kelly would occasionally have lunch with one of her parents at Noonan's at least once a week. He was hoping it would be Alex instead of Maggie. He didn't really know the detective and had nothing against her, not really. She hadn't been there when he lost his daughter. That had been Agent Danvers and that alien of hers that had done that. He almost wanted his revenge more than he wanted to assist in Ms. Thorul's plan. Hopefully after today he would have information he needed to devise a plan.

Donovan pushed through the crowded sidewalks pissing off a few unlucky passersby when he runs into them and doesn't give them a second glance. It had been a long time since he had been out in the city but he noticed nothing had really changed. Sure some of the buildings were flashier than he remembered but most of it remained unchanged. The one thing he knew had changed was his daughter, if he remembered correctly she would be twenty-one now. He hadn't seen her since she was a child in the court room, he could only imagine how different she looked now. The only evidence he had that she had changed was what he saw about Flare. His daughter was tall, much like him, and if her armor was anything to go by she was fairly well built as well.

"There you are," he heard a voice say, "what took you so long?"

He turned to see the familiar face of Alexandra Danvers, greeting who he was sure to be Kelly. Ducking his head, he moved to the side to remain out of sight of the two but stayed within earshot.

"Yeah sorry," Kelly waved her hand in the air, "got cornered by a couple of people outside of L-Corp."

"Friends?" he saw Agent Danvers wink at Kelly nudging her lightly. "Or…?

"Nope, nope, no," Kelly shoved her hands in her pockets blushing deeply. "Not doing this, nope."

Donovan had to start walking to avoid being seen by Kelly as she headed in his direction, Agent Danvers following not far behind. He felt himself gritting his teeth with clenched fists as the teasing behind him continued. It made his blood boil just hearing how comfortable that woman was with his daughter. Labeling herself as Kelly's guardian because she didn't understand his methods made him sick. He wanted to go after her there and then, to make her bleed, to make her beg for him to kill her. _Bitch…_ he thought as he swallowed down his rage. It would be a mistake to attack her here where it was so open, and with Kelly standing right there nonetheless. No he would wait, bide his time until the right moment. That moment had better come fairly soon, however, he wasn't a patient man.

He passed the front entrance to Noonan's, bolted around the corner then turned around, accidentally running into Kelly. The impact sent a jolt through him, like he had run into a wall. She didn't budge an inch, _damn she's strong._ He turned keeping his head low mumbling an apology before skirting farther down the sidewalk. The last thing he saw was Kelly shrugging to herself before following Agent Danvers into the restaurant.

XXXXX

"What was that all about?" Alex asked her once she joined her inside Noonan's.

"Guess he was in a hurry," Kelly rubbed her shoulder absently. "Hope I didn't break his shoulder."

Alex chuckled as she led Kelly back to their regular table. It was away from most of the commotion of the restaurant, private enough for them to discuss sensitive matters. The waitress spotted them, nodded to herself then hurried off, already aware that they would order the same thing they always did.

They sat in a comfortable silence waiting for their food and drinks to arrive. Out of Alex and Maggie, the latter was quieter when it came to Kelly but Alex could also be quiet when she wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, for them Kelly didn't seem to mind the silence most the time, if she needed some type of interaction she would initiate it. Today was one of those instances that she wasn't very talkative. Alex was aware that something was bothering Kelly. She had tried to broach the subject after their meeting the other day but Kelly had shut it down immediately.

"Are you going to be there tomorrow," Kelly asked after their food arrived. "It's a big game…"

Alex cocked her head. Something in her daughter's voice concerned her. Kelly seemed hesitant to ask. Almost like a child, asking for permission to do something they knew their parent would disapprove of. Alex thought about pressing her about what was wrong but upon seeing the look Kelly was giving her decided better of it.

"Of course," Alex said, "the case can wait and unless something happens with Warden, we have no reason not to be."

"Cool," Kelly said sighing in what Alex could only guess was one of relief. "Also Nick was wondering if he could come to game night this next time. Something about his mom or something."

At this Alex chuckled even since Kelly and Nick had first met back in elementary school Nick's parents had been an issue. Both were business people, but fairly old fashioned. When they had met Alex (and later Maggie) Nick's mother had shared her distain about both women working in what she declared 'traditionally men's jobs'. Alex had scoffed at her, who thought like that anymore? His father on the other hand made it extremely clear he did not approve of his son hanging around with a girl who had two mothers. Maggie had nearly shot him at that point, only to make it clear that he could keep his opinions to himself. Nick was nothing like his parents, he made it his mission to make them disapprove of his choice in friends. He even lived with Kelly for a short period just to anger his parents.

"He knows he's always welcome."

They fell into a silence again as they ate, Kelly occasionally bringing up something that had happened recently making them both laugh. Alex mainly kept her conversation topic away from work, wanting to keep the mood light. It worked for awhile until Kelly suddenly looked up dropping her untouched wing back on the plate. Her eyes darted around the restaurant until they landed on a man she recognized. Sitting at the bar, cap pulled down almost over his eyes was the man that had run into hear earlier. She stiffened turning her attention back to her mother.

"You noticed him too huh?" Alex inquired nonchalantly lifting her beer to her lips. "He's been following us since we met up."

"Probably ran into me on purpose," Kelly said. "What should we do?"

Alex casually glanced over to the bar, waving at their server. Once she got her attention and caught a glimpse of the man, she turned back to Kelly.

"Once we get our check I want you to leave, head around the corner and wait for me," Alex said. "I'm going to see if I can't get a little information out of our friend there."

The server handed Alex the check, which Kelly promptly stole it and dug out her wallet to pay for their bill. Once the server took it, she slapped her hands on the table meeting Alex's eye.

"Be careful," she said with a grin before sliding out of her seat, and leaving without a backwards glance.

Alex took a second to gather herself. She hadn't wanted to panic Kelly so she hadn't mentioned that she knew the man following them. Clearly, Kelly did not recognize Donovan, which made sense she had not seen the man since she was five and he was in court. If he was following them, he was up to no good and Alex planned to ensure that he knew exactly what family he was dealing with.

By the time she crossed the restaurant Donovan was already onto her, meeting her angry glare with a wide smile. It made her skin crawl and blood boil to see him so brazen. She had half a mind to shoot him right there, she even felt herself reach of her gun, which wasn't there. A thousand possibilities ran through her head as she approached him. She could break his arm, threaten him, or break his nose. She could arrest him, though she had no legal right to, they could hold him for forty-eight hours, but it wasn't worth it.

"Long time no see Agent Danvers," he said. "How long has it been? Seventeen years?"

"Sixteen and that's still too soon."

"You don't have to be a grouch y'know?" he said. "I'm not doing anything wrong, I'm just having lunch."

Alex grabbed the back of Donovan's neck squeezing it tightly. She bent down to speak into his ear, not wanting to be overheard. "I may not be able to do anything about you now," her grip tighten to the point where she was sure it hurt, "but, if I see you anywhere near my daughter I will end you."

Donovan smirked, turning his head as far as he could with her holding him. "I think you mean my daughter."

Alex slammed his head into the counter causing the entire restaurant to go silent. Blood started to pour out of his nose, as she held him there, probably having broken his nose. "Do not test me Donovan," she growled. "You lost every right to call her your daughter after you abused her. If I ever see you again I will personally put a bullet between your eyes."

With that, she released him, glancing around to see shocked customers and servers alike. She handed the frozen bartender her card, apologizing for the mess, and then swiftly exited the restaurant. As the door closed she could hear Donovan's laughter, it sounded garbled and wet because of his nose. She quickly rounded the corner, passing right by Kelly who had to jog to catch up with her quick stride.

"Hey what's the rush," Kelly tripped, nearly falling before she caught herself. "Mom, hey wait up what's going on?"

Alex stopped dead in her tracks causing Kelly to run into her back. Her mom stumbled slightly before turning to face Kelly, her face red. Kelly looked at her concerned something was wrong she could feel it.

"I need you to go home, back whatever you need, and come to the house," she said.

"What? Why?" Kelly could see something on her mother's face, something she wasn't telling her. "Mom what's wrong?

"Please Kelly, just listen to me, get your stuff get to the house, I want you to stay there for a little while," Alex said reaching out to grip Kelly's shoulder. "I can explain later, but can you do this for me?"

Kelly nodded. "Yeah, yeah of course." She paused, glancing behind her. "What about cornflake?"

"What's a cornflake?"

"My cat," she said. "Will Titan be okay with him?"

Alex couldn't help but chuckle, bringing her daughter in to a tight hug which she returned. "I think you should worry more about Maggie, she's not a fan of cats."

"I'll be by in a couple hours," she said. "Just promise to tell me what's going on."

"I promise," Alex agreed. "Now go. I'll see you soon."


	7. Chapter 7

**Woo another chapter. This one is a little different from the others but hopefully that works in its favor. Sorry for the wait, work has been kicking my ass. In any case thanks for reading, tell me what you think and as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 7

When Maggie arrived home she found the front door unlocked and upon farther investigation found Alex on the couch halfway through a bottle of whiskey. She dropped her bag by the door, ignoring the dog pawing at her foot to go over to her wife, who looked horrible. Alex barely acknowledged her when she sat down next to her, she just finished off her glass and set it aside, collapsing back into the cushions.

"Lunch with Kelly that bad?"

Alex shook her head leaning forward to pour another glass, thought better of it, then sat back in the couch. Maggie shifted to pull her wife into her lap. When Alex got like this there wasn't much she could do but listen to whatever she had to say and keep her from polishing off whatever bottle she was drinking.

"Babe what's going on?"

Alex turned so she could bury her face in Maggie's shoulder, muttering something that her wife couldn't make out. Maggie nudged Alex to lift her head off her shoulder.

"Miles Donovan is stalking Kelly," Alex repeated. "Broke his nose today at lunch."

Maggie had to pinch the bridge of her nose. "One of these days you're going to get us banned." She hugged Alex tight, she didn't like what she was hearing. Donovan had been a concern earlier, but now he was becoming a huge problem. If he was willing to follow Kelly while she was with Alex, and in a public space, no telling how far he would go.

"I'm scared Maggie," Alex admitted. "I know I shouldn't be but…Donovan is dangerous and you remember how Kelly reacted when we told her about his possible release. What the hell is she going to do when she actually sees him?"

"You're worried she'll do something to him?"

Alex shook her head, reaching for the empty glass and the bottle. She poured almost half a glass before handing it to Maggie. "I'm afraid he'll do something to her," she said. "You weren't there when we first found her back then, you didn't see how scared she was. I honestly think if they came in contact Kelly would have a break down. The trauma she went through isn't something a child grows out of."

She was right, Maggie hadn't been there. Alex had adopted Kelly during the time they had been broken up. Maggie hadn't come into the picture until a year later. She had seen how reserved Kelly was but according to Alex she had been much better than when she first came to live with Alex. Every year after that had been an improvement over the last, Kelly who was she was today in no small part thanks to Alex.

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

Alex took a deep breath, shifting against Maggie. She hadn't thought about that day in years. It had been one she wanted to forget. That day may have given her Kelly, but it also left her with memories she wish she didn't have.

"It was a really, really bad day…" she started.

_ Alex stood by Kara's side, gun in her hands, waiting for the other agents go get into position. They had little information on Miles Donovan but he was a high ranking member of the Children of Liberty and now that they had Ben Lockwood in custody they were slowly taking down the other members of the terrorist cell. According to Lockwood, Donovan lived with his wife and daughter and was currently unemployed. They also discovered he had ties to Cadmus, though information on his time with Cadmus was slight. From what Alex could tell he was a dangerous man and needed to be brought into custody unlike some of the other members of the Children of Liberty who were strictly anti-alien to be anti-alien._

"_Do it," she gave Kara the order._

_ Kara nodded, kicking in the door. The wood splintered under the force, the hinges tearing from the frame. Alex entered first, clearing the corners, even though she didn't need to with Kara behind her. Rounding the corner into what she assumed was the family room she found Donovan reclined in his chair a beer in his hand, looking unconcerned about Supergirl and a dozen agents storming into his home._

"_Hands where I can see them Donovan," Alex said moving forward until she was standing between him and the TV. "Is there anyone else in the house?"_

"_Wife and the kid are out, it's just me."_

_ Alex turned to a couple of her agents, "Search the house, leave nothing unturned." The agents nodded, leaving the room to begin their search. Alex remained in the room with Kara, two other agents and Donovan._

"_Don't you guys need a warrant or something," Donovan asked sitting up in his chair. _

"_We have both an arrest warrant and one to search the house," Alex said, glancing around, something was off she could feel it._

"_What, you arrest Lockwood and just come after the rest of us?" he scoffed tossing his empty beer can to the side. "You don't have shit."_

"_Yeah, well we'll see," she said. "You guys find anything?"_

_ One of her agent's peaked around the corner shaking his head. "Place is clear Director, want us to keep looking?" Alex nodded to him and he left. She noticed a closet off to the side no one had checked yet. She waved to one of the remaining agents to check it out. He went over to it twisted the knob a few time before turning to her and shaking his head._

"_Locked."_

"_That door have a key," she asked Donovan._

"_No," he said, "I don't even know what the door is to."_

"_Supergirl," Alex nodded to the door._

_ Her sister went to it with no hesitation. A silence stretched over the room as Alex waited for Kara to examine the closet. After a moment Kara turned to her with a look that made Alex's heart skip a beat._

"_There's someone in there," she said._

_ Alex grabbed Donovan's shirt, forcefully pulling him out of his seat so she could shove him towards the door. "Lie to me again and I'll start breaking fingers," she threatened as he got to his knees. "Where is the key?"_

_ Donovan spit at her. "Fuck you." Alex grabbed his shirt again, pulling him closer before shoving him back to the floor._

"_Get him in cuffs," she ordered. "Supergirl take care of the door."_

_ Two of her agents moved in on Donovan, one forcing him to his feet, the other cuffing him. Once he was restrained the lead him out of the room, leaving Alex alone with Kara. She waited for her sister to crush the knob with little effort. Kara tossed the broken knob aside but waited to open the door until Alex nodded at her with her gun raised. Slowly she pulled the door outward. Light flooded in, Alex's finger went to the trigger, but suddenly Kara was in front of her, blocking her from whoever was in the closet._

"_Alex put the gun down, now." Kara's voice had a sense of urgency to it, one Alex had never heard before, but she listened, holstering her gun. _

"_Supergirl, what is it?"_

_ Kara reached for the door frame, gripping it so tightly it cracked under her finger tips. Alex grabbed her sister's shoulder, squeezing it in an effort to get her to move. She could feel how tense the Kryptonian was, which scared her. Alex had never seen Kara like this. Something was very wrong. Alex nudged her sister again, this time she moved out of the way allowing Alex to see what had gotten her so upset._

_ Alex clenched her fist, turning so fast towards Donovan she felt a little light headed. The two agent's holding Donovan shrunk back, barely getting out of the way before Alex grabbed Donovan, throwing him against the wall._

"_What the fuck is wrong with you?!"She slammed his head against the wall, barely stopping herself from pulling her gun on him. "You piece of shit!"_

"_Director!"_

_ Suddenly Supergirl was next to her, looming over the two agents. She reached forward, peeling Alex's hands away from Donovan. When she spoke her voice was low and dangerous. "Go to the girl, I'll take care of him."_

_ Alex didn't move immediately, her blood was boiling beneath her skin. She felt like she did when she was interrogating the Cadmus agent trying to find her father. If she had been alone with Donovan he would have been dead by the time anyone could stop her. She would have to settle with hitting him as hard as she could. Which she did, a fierce right hook to the jaw. He spit out blood before Kara shoved her away._

"_Alex now."_

_ This time she listened, leaving Kara with the two agents and Donovan. She made her way back over to the closet, willing herself to calm down. This girl, what was her name? Kelly? Yes Kelly, Kelly Donovan, would be terrified. She needed to be calm for this girl. It pissed her off that she had been locked in a pitch black closet for Rao knows how long. She knelt down at the closet door careful to not scare the girl even more. _

"_Hey there," she said. "You're safe now."_

_ Kelly huddled further into the closet, putting as much space between her and Alex as possible. She couldn't have been more than four years old. Alex heart ached for her, for what she might have gone through._

"_Do you want to come out?"_

_ She shook her head. Alex sighed, this wasn't going to be easy. "You're scared of him aren't you? I would be too." Kelly looked up at her and Alex smiled. "But we have something he doesn't, come here I'll show you." Alex beckoned her to come forward, and after a moment's hesitation Kelly crawled over to her. Good, this was good, Alex thought to herself. She pointed over to Supergirl who was now standing near the entryway to the living room, keeping her distance._

"_You know who that is right?"_

_ Kelly nodded, "Supergirl?"_

"_That's right," Alex said. "She's a really good friend of mine. And like me she's here to make sure you're safe from your dad."_

"_You promise?"_

_ Alex nodded, holding out her hand for Kelly to take. "As long as I'm here no one will ever hurt you again, I promise." She waited for what seemed like forever before Kelly finally took her hand allowing Alex to bring her out into the living room. She nodded to Kara who nodded back, understanding the unspoken words. Alex would take care of Kelly until the returned to the DEO and they got ahold of either her mother or CPS._

Maggie heard Alex stifle a sob. She never imagined how difficult this would be for her wife to explain to her. Alex never talked about the Donovan case which was, apparently, for good reason. It had stuck with her after all these years. Maggie knew Alex had rarely worked with kids over her years at the DEO but the few times she had it had always been cases she came home and would drink herself to oblivion. She supposed the same had happened when she first took Kelly in, but perhaps she hadn't. Perhaps Kelly had been different and the reason it hurt Alex so much was because Kelly was more than just a case, Kelly was her daughter.

"It's okay Alex," Maggie assured her, gently kissing the top of her wife's head. "You don't have to continue."

"No," Alex said stubbornly. "There's more to it. More you should know about Donovan's arrest and how I ended up with Kelly…"

"I think I know how you ended up with Kelly," Maggie said. "You're too damn good to people. You saw a girl who needed help and you gave her everything."

"And yet I feel like I failed."

"You could never fail at being her mother Alex."

Alex nodded, though Maggie didn't think she believed her. Maggie set her drink aside to hold Alex tighter. If Alex wouldn't believe her that was fine, but she needed to know Maggie was right there with her and always would be. Curling back into Maggie, Alex continued with her story.

_ Kelly's grip on her hand as they walked through the DEO was almost painful. She was as close to Alex as she could be without Alex actually carrying her. Donovan had already been taken to an interrogation room by two of Alex's agents, Alex was going to let him sweat it out for a while, while she spoke to Kelly. She took the girl to the meeting room, figuring it would be better than an interrogation room. At this point Kelly finally let go of her hand allowing Alex to left her into the chair. Alex pulled up her own chair, sitting down next to her._

"_Can you tell me where your mom is?"_

"_Daddy said she left and wasn't gonna come back," Kelly said._

_ Alex sighed, she would have to ask Donovan about his wife's whereabouts. There wasn't much Alex could do with Kelly at this point. She would have to wait for the agent from Child Protective Services. Still she didn't want to leave Kelly alone just yet._

"_Kelly why did your dad have you locked in that closet?"_

_ Kelly stared at her hands, either not willing to or afraid to meet Alex's eye. Alex reached over to her, patting her knee. "It's okay kiddo you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She hugged herself tightly before looking up at Alex._

"_You won't be mad if I show you?"_

"_No, of course not," Alex assured her. Show her what? Alex wondered._

_ Kelly held out her hands, her face tight with concentration. Alex sat back in her seat watching in awe as small strands of golden light began to dance around the girl's fingers. She was speechless, Kelly was a meta-human, and by the growing intensity of the ropes around her fingers a strong one. Alex had never seen anything like it in all her years at the DEO, a meta capable of manipulating light particles. And a four year old doing it with little difficulty nonetheless. The light disappeared, snapping her back to attention._

"_Does anyone else know about this?"_

"_Just my daddy," Kelly said._

"_Alright," Alex said ruffling Kelly's hair. "Are you hungry? Do you like chicken nuggets? I could get you some?"_

_ Kelly's face lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. "Alright, think you'll be okay in here by yourself for a few minutes? I have to go talk to your dad, but as soon as Supergirl come back with your lunch she'll stay with you until I get back. Okay?" Kelly nodded again, this time slower, like she didn't really want Alex to go. Truth be told she didn't want to leave, but she had to, she had a job to do._

_ She left Kelly with a smile, posting an agent nearby while she went to the interrogation room where Donovan was being held. When she arrived she found her sister standing outside the room fuming. Kara turned to her almost pleading with her._

"_Please tell me I can get out of here," she said._

"_The kid is hungry, I promised her nuggets, and that you'd sit with her while I talk to her dad," Alex informed her. "Listen Kelly is a meta-human, I'm going to go hard on him okay? Have Brainy keep everyone out of here, please."_

"_No problem."_

_ Kara disappeared in a snap, leaving Alex to do what she did best. She cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath. Being levelheaded was important. Donovan didn't seem to be bothered by brute strength, in fact he seemed to enjoy it. It sent a shiver down her spine. Donovan was a sick bastard, for more than one reason. It was now or never._

"_Took you long enough," Donovan growled the second she entered the room._

"_Wasn't really in a hurry to talk to you again," she said, taking a set across the table from him. "I was actually talking to your daughter. Care to explain to me where your wife is?"_

_ Donovan tried to cross his arms only to be stopped by the restraints he still wore. Grimacing he dropped his hands to the table. "Bitch left me when the kid was two," he said. "Who could blame her the kid is a freak."_

_ Alex slammed her fists into the table, making Donovan flinch. "That kid is your daughter," she said her voice extremely low. "You locked her in a closet. Why?" Even if he gave her a straight answer as to why exactly he locked her in there she would never understand his motives. He clearly hated the idea of Kelly being different, hated the fact that her mother left him alone with her, but there were so many other options open to him. What reasoning could he possibly have for abusing a four year old who had done nothing wrong?_

_ Donovan leaned forward a grin spreading across his face. "She's weak, useless, or so I thought," he said watching Alex closely. "Someone pointed out the benefit of a kid like her, what it could do for the Children of Liberty, if she were to be molded properly."_

"_Molded?" Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. "She's four."_

"_When I was her age I was tough, didn't cry, didn't complain," he said. "My dad use to hit me, that doesn't work with a child. You hit a kid sooner or later their pent up rage is gonna escape and they're going to snap."_

_ He snapped his fingers. "No you have to do it differently, tear them down, build them back up. That's all I am guilty of. By the time she's ten that girl is going to be a perfect member of the Children of Liberty. She'll thank me."_

_ Alex was around the table in a second, her gun dram, pushed painfully against his jaw. She was dangerously close to shooting him. "Do you have any idea the kind of trauma you have put that girl through," she shouted her face turning red. "That's not something a child grows out of, not something a child can recover from without years of therapy. Is that what you want?"_

_ She was surprised that he started shaking with laughter. He wasn't intimidated by her in the least. In fact he was enjoying tormenting her. Alex hit him with the butt of her pistol, unable to hold herself back._

"_You don't scare me Director…director what? I never got your name." He grinned, his teeth red with blood. "Women like you, you've got some bite, but not much. Give fifteen minutes without these restraints, you'll see exactly what I can do."_

_ Alex hit him again, then again and again, the whole time he continued laughing. It continued until she kicked over his chair and put a boot to his throat. "I promise you, you will never go near that girl again, you're going to spend the rest of your life in a small cell, rotting away, and no one will care." She removed her foot, storming out of the room. She was livid, if she didn't get out of there she would kill him._

"_Director Danvers," an agent came up to her, pausing when he saw her clenched teeth. "Jason Hawthorne is here from CPS, he wants to talk with you."_

"_Have him met me upstairs, I need a minute to decompress."_

"_Yes ma'am." _

_ She watched the agent jog off. Alex didn't follow, instead turning and heading in the opposite directions towards the training room. Her knuckles were bloody and sore from hitting Donovan. It hurt enough that she suspected she had cracked or even broken one of her bones. She couldn't meet with Hawthorne with a bloody hand, it wouldn't look good for her or the DEO if an outsider saw her with busted knuckles. She headed towards the bathroom to wash her hands and make herself presentable to speak with Hawthorne._

_ The ice cold water felt soothing against the inflamed skin of her knuckles. She was kicking herself for losing control with a suspect again. It was beneath her to do something so reckless. They weren't keeping custody of him, he would be turned over to NCPD once they finished interrogating him, then he would be sent to Albatross Bay Prison to await trial and sentencing. Her actions put that at risk, put the four year old girl sitting in the conference room at risk. Yet she didn't regret her actions in the slightest. Donovan needed to be knocked down a few pegs, they could explain away his injuries later. _

_ Fifteen minutes later Alex extended her hand to Hawthorne, which he gladly accepted. His grip hurt, not because he held her hand to tight. She would need to get her hand checked after she spoke with him about Kelly._

"_Good news is I found a home willing to take the girl," he said choosing not to beat around the bush._

_ Alex grimaced. The details that she had given her agents to explain to CPS had changed greatly. Placing a normal child was fairly simple, as simple as rehoming a child could be. Meta-humans and aliens were a whole other story, because of the recent increase in hate crimes against aliens thanks to the Children of Liberty, people weren't willing to take them in. Even CPS didn't like to deal with them in fear of retaliation from the Children._

"_About that," she said hesitantly. Hawthorne's brow creased. "There's been a development. I could explain it but it might be easier to just show you."_

_ Hawthorne nodded waving for her to lead. "By all means Director," he sounded like he was mocking her. Alex knew better, she had dealt with Hawthorne before. He was friendly and to most women excluding her very charming. What Alex liked most about him was his willingness to allow her leeway with cases he was involved, which was only a handful but she preferred working together rather than against one another._

_ She smiled as she passed him, leading her back to the meeting room where she had left Kelly. The agent she had posted there was gone, in his place was Supergirl, having a one sided conversation. Kelly looked interested in what Kara was saying but Alex could tell that the girl had retreated back into herself. _

_Kara noticed her before she had the chance to knock, beckoning her and Hawthorne in. She pulled Alex to her, keeping her voice low so only Alex could hear. "She ate but she won't talk to me, keeps avoiding eye contact." Kara glanced at Kelly and a now kneeling Hawthorne. "She asked for you a couple of times." Alex nodded squeezing her sister's shoulder._

"_Go see Lena, blow off some steam, whatever you need to do," she said. "I'll handle the rest of this."_

"_You need a break to Alex."_

_ Alex winked at her, grinning. "I'll take a break when I know she's going to be alright."_

_ Sensing she wasn't going to win the argument Kara left. Once she was gone Alex went back to Kelly, who finally looked up from the toy she was playing with. Alex smiled._

"_Kelly this is my friend Jason, he's here to help you okay?"_

_ Kelly nodded, but Alex wondered if she actually understood._

"_Hi Kelly," Hawthorne made no attempt to touch the girl, instead he kept his hands on his knees while he examined her._

"_Hi…"_

"_Kelly do you think you could show Jason what you showed me?"_

_ When Kelly shook her head Alex leaned down to meet her eye. "You aren't in trouble; he just needs to see what you showed me."_

_ Kelly slowly nodded, extending her hands out much like she did for Alex. Hawthorne watched her with interest as the same strands of light started to twist around her fingers. Alex could see he was holding his breath and knew he was thinking the same thing as her. They weren't going to find a foster home that would take her. As the light disappeared Hawthorne rose to his feet._

"_Can I speak with you for a moment Director?"_

"_Of course," Alex said rising with him. "I'll be right back, Kelly."_

"_Okay…"_

_ Hawthorne left with Alex. "What am I supposed to now?" he said beginning to pace. "You couldn't have told me this earlier? Goddamnit Alex." _

"_I didn't know Jason," she defended herself. "She showed me right before you arrived."_

_ Alex grabbed his shoulder forcing him to stop. "There has to be something you can do." He shook his head; he'd called in a lot of favors already. No one was going to take her. Alex grimaced, there was no family to speak of, besides Donovan, to take Kelly. If people weren't so damned stupid there wouldn't be a problem._

"_What if I took her?" the thought was sudden, surprising even Alex._

"_You're a foster parent?"_

"_No," she said. Did she really want this? One glance at Kelly sitting alone told her yes. "But I'm in the process of adopting a child. I could adopt her."_

"_It's not that simple," he argued, but she could tell he was considering it. _

"_Call in some favors, I'll owe you," she said._

_ He sighed, glancing at the girl on the other side of the glass wall. "Give me an hour. If your serious about this, I'll do it. But realize there is no going back."_

"_She shouldn't have to suffer because of what Ben Lockwood started, none of them should."_

"_Alright Director," he conceded. "Let me see what I can do."_

Maggie knew the rest of what happened, Jason Hawthorne had been instrumental in pushing the adoption through. She knew Alex was done talking when he wife sat up to grab the bottle of whiskey. She offered some to Maggie, who accepted it, before drinking straight from the bottle.

"I promised her she'd be safe," she said.

"You couldn't have known this would happen," Maggie said rubbing Alex's shoulders.

Alex stiffened. Maggie was wrong, she had always known that he would never let Kelly go, that he would do anything to take Kelly away from her. Donovan was relentless, for years he tried to get paroled and for years he was denied. Something had changed, someone had pulled strings to get him released and it was her fault.

"I should have killed him back then."

Maggie pulled her back so her back was flush with Maggie's chest. Alex stiffened felling how tense her wife was. For years both had been against lethal force, it wasn't the answer. But Alex couldn't help but feel differently about Donovan, he wouldn't stop until he was dead or he had one. There was no other option, Alex could see that, she could only hope Maggie did as well.

"Then that's what we do."

"What?" Alex was shocked to hear what Maggie was implying.

"I don't like it, but you're right," Maggie admitted. "He'll keep coming after her, and the next time he does…it'll be the last."

XXXXX

Kelly hadn't expected it to take her so long to get over to her parent's house. She would have been there over an hour ago if the cat hadn't run off when she had returned to her apartment. She wasn't used to wrangling cats, and hers had made t as difficult as possible to catch. When she finally did catch the cat half an hour had passed, packing took another half an hour and once she was on the way she had decided to get pizza. She figured her parents would want something for dinner and pizza was the best option.

When she opened the door to the house she was greeted by her parent's dog but not her parents. She thought at least one of them would be there. "Anyone here?" When she received no response she dropped her bags by the door, carefully setting the cat cage beside it. Titan was suddenly much more interested in the cat than her, which she was fine with. She left the two animals there while she went to look for her parents.

"Mom? Maggie? Hello?"

Still no response. At first she panicked, her mind going to the worst case scenario before she managed to calm herself. No, Alex probably forgot she was coming over. Kelly swallowed hard, they had better not be where she suspected they were. Turning the corner, she noted their bedroom door was wide open. She let out a breath of relief. Not in the bed room. So where were they?

She returned to the front room. Titan was still sniffing around the cat, uninterested in the pizza two feet to the left of him. Where the hell were her parents?

"Guys?"

Again no answer, but she did hear someone snoring. Turning towards the family room. On the couch she saw both her parents sound asleep. She hadn't been completely wrong about what they were doing; they had definitely been up to something. Kelly also noticed the nearly empty bottle of whiskey next to them. She went over, grabbing a blanket to drape over them. They looked peaceful and Kelly didn't want bother them. She would clean up the area as quietly as she could, have some dinner then go to her room. They could talk when they got up.

She went back to gather her things once the whiskey was put away and the pizza was in the fridge. Titan had lost interest in the cat by then, allowing Kelly to move everything without hindrance. By the fridge she left a note for her parents in case they didn't wake up until after she fell asleep.

_Figured you guys would be hungry, pizza is in the fridge, didn't want to wake you. Next time I'll call beforehand._

_-Kelly._


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter was a little troublesome but hopefully it turned out alright. Writer's block hit me about halfway through so that was fun. In any case it is done. Thanks for reading, feel free to let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 8

Alex had to admit that Kelly was taking the news of her father's release much better than she expected. It had honestly scared her more that Kelly sat across from her calmly drinking a cup of coffee than if she had started throwing things or whatever else Alex had thought she'd do. Maggie even looked concerned at their daughter's reaction to the news. They both knew, when it came to Kelly, any reaction was better than no reaction. No reaction meant she was internalizing which would come back later.

"Are you okay," Alex asked carefully.

"I'm fine," Kelly said setting her coffee down. "I'm screaming on the inside, but other than that I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Maggie chimed in.

"Nothing I can do now," she said with a shrug. "Dad is out and just happens to be stalking me. Not to mention the kinetic who doesn't want me dead but is still after me. Just another Saturday right?"

Alex glanced at Maggie, still concerned but unable to figure out what to do. Kelly was a very emotional person; she had the tendency to act on those emotions before thinking her actions through. What was happening now was a complete three-sixty on how she usually acted. It was almost as if she was sedated. Then it hit Alex. She went over to the liquor cabinet opened it, glanced around, then closed it.

"Kelly how much whiskey is in that coffee?"

"A lot," Kelly admitted. "After yesterday I figured something was up and it was either you two were separating or something was up with my dad. Both give me a lot of anxiety and I can't function when I'm anxious."

It was then that Alex noticed the lump on Kelly's shoulder. She hadn't noticed it earlier because she hadn't been looking. Because of her metabolism, Kelly couldn't get drunk off of regular alcohol, to get around that she would wear a power dampener whenever she wanted to get drunk. Neither of her parents approved of it but they both had to admit it was a smart idea. If she needed to sober up quickly, she just turned the dampener off.

Maggie threw her hands up. "What is with everyone lately? Who started this whole thing about us getting separated?" It was the second time her daughter had brought it up and the fifth time she had heard it from different people.

"You two have been fighting a lot."

"Arguing," Maggie said. "We've been arguing, like every married adult does. It happens when a government agency steps over their jurisdiction constantly."

"Can we not start this right now?" Alex looked annoyed at the sudden change in topic. "We're looking into what we can do about Donovan."

She shared a knowing glance with Maggie. It was best that they didn't let Kelly know what exactly they had in mind. They didn't think she would try to stop them, they just wanted to keep her out of any potential fallout.

"I know," Kelly said, grinning. "You promised he'd never hurt me again, I know you meant it."

Alex looked away, _so she did remember…_ Kelly took notice of her mom's response. She rose, swaying slightly before she removed the dampener from her shoulder. Alex looked up at this point, surprised when Kelly hugged her.

"Us Danvers protect each other right?" she said, "I know you'll do everything to look out for me, even though you don't need to anymore."

Kelly didn't let go until Alex hugged her back, and after a moment Maggie joined them. Their daughter was right, they would protect each other, no matter what. After a few minutes their group hug broke off. Kelly went straight for her coffee, chugging it before setting the glass in the sink.

"I've got to get to work," she said. "I'll see you at the game okay?"

Alex and Maggie waved as she left in a hurry. Once she was gone Maggie turned to Alex, her arms crossed over her chest.

"How did you know she had whiskey in her coffee?"

Alex sighed, "Too much like her mother." Was the only answer she could give Maggie. Luckily, her wife seem to accept the answer because she grabbed the whiskey bottle offering it to Alex.

"I'm off today and I know you are too," she said. "Have a drink with me."

"I thought you'd never ask."

XXXXX

Lena yawned. Kara had kept her up all night. It had been one of the few times Lori had spent the night at a friends and her wife had decided to take advantage of that. Lena didn't mind of course, but showing up at a meeting with her investors completely sore and exhausted had been something she had wanted to avoid. Of course, Kara hadn't stopped there, having come by after the meeting sending Lena's assistant running, her face red as a tomato. Now her assistant was peaking her head inside the door looking everywhere but at Lena.

"Your niece is here to see you Mrs. Luthor."

Kelly pushed pass Jesse into the office. "Sorry to barge in," she said as soon as Jesse left. "I wanted to see how the suit was coming along."

Lena chuckled; none of the Danvers had any patience. She had promised Alex it would take a couple of days to get the suit upgrade done but it wasn't nearly finished yet. Lena had only had time to finish half of the suit. If she hadn't started from scratch it would have been done, but Kelly needed something specific. Her old armor had been modified riot gear, it hadn't been nearly enough. The new suit was Nth metal, light and powerful, it would protect her better than the old stuff. But again it wasn't finished.

"It isn't done."

"Can I still see it?"

"Sure," Lena rose from her desk. "Come with me."

Kelly allowed herself to be lead into the elevator. She knew Lena kept her secret projects in her lab in the basement but she had never actually been there. From what she understood the lab was where Lena had developed the Haranel she used to save Kelly way back when. She had also tried to cure a family friend Samantha Arias or her unfortunate supervillain parasite as Kelly liked to call it. Kelly supposed if Lena ever went bad she already had a secret layer that only she and Kara had access to. However, Kelly could probably break in if she really wanted to.

"You ever think about supervillany," Kelly asked half joking. "You're already half way there with the secret lab. And like any good villain you have the super hero under your thumb."

"Good guys have secret hideouts to," Lena said punching in the code to the lab.

"I don't think the Fortress of Solitude counts."

Lena smirked leading Kelly farther into the lab. "Superman and Supergirl may have interesting pieces of equipment in the Fortress. But me? Well I have the best toys." She stopped just short of an armor stand. It stood out against the rest of the lab with its, well the colors were an acquired taste. A combination Kelly loved but the rest of her family found hard to look at. Kelly circled around it, examining it closely.

"This looks awesome."

"I also fixed your helmet," Lena picked up the helmet handing it to Kelly who immediately slid it on.

"So sonic devices…"

"Won't be a problem," Lena said. "If I had more time I could finish the suit more completely but time is of the essence. Just be careful."

Kelly ran her hand over the chest plate, grinning from ear to ear. She was always impressed with the other super's costume. Kara's upgraded suit was tough but light and stylish (ever since she switched to pants). James was basic but had been the inspiration for hers, his was practical and it just looked cool. Even Nia had an impressive costume. Each one of them had had help putting it together, whether it be from Brainy, Lena or her uncle Winn who she had never met. She had built hers on her own, but now she finally was up there with the rest of them.

"Have I ever told you you're my favorite aunt?" she removed her helmet to look at Lena. "Cause you are."

"Just remember this suit doesn't make you invincible. You can still get hurt, especially against Warden," Lena warned her. "I can't exactly test how well the suit holds up to solid light."

Kelly held up a balled fist. Strands of light started to twist around it bathing her face in a light glow. "Who says you can't?" The light slowly began to take shape, stitching itself together as it elongated into a spear. Lena was always impressed by Kelly's ability to manipulate light energy, she was so adept at it, and it was a wonder why she wasn't stronger.

"Where do you want me to hit it?"

"Doesn't matter," Lena said taking a step back in case the bolt came anywhere near her.

The light spear left her hand as quickly as it had formed, it moved so fast Lena could barely keep her eyes on it. The suit buckled under the pressure of the spear but when it looked like it would tear apart the light sparked off it. The wall behind the suit exploded outward sending concrete debris in all directions. Lena ducked only to find Kelly had leapt in front of her and formed a barrier of light between them and the wall. After a moment, the barrier fell leaving the two of them to stand in the aftermath.

"I know my aim isn't that bad," Kelly said sheepishly.

"It isn't, the suit worked."

"Ah good…" Kelly said rubbing her neck. "Do you want me to fix that?"

"No," Lena sighed, "Don't worry about it."

She went over to the suit, grasping the wrist. Kelly watched as the suit collapsed down. When it had disappeared completely Lena removed a metal bracelet from the stand bringing it over to Kelly. She took it turning it over in her hands. It was inconspicuous looking like a metal bracelet. She knew Barry Allen had a ring that held his suit, this bracelet apparently offered the same convenience on a slightly larger scale.

"Take good care of that. If we have time, I'll try to finish the rest of it. Just remember it's a prototype. It may not be as strong as it should be."

Kelly hugged her, thanking her for the suit. Lena returned the hug with a smile. "You're the best," Kelly said as she started towards the elevator. "I mean it." And just like that she was gone, leaving Lena alone in the lab.

XXXXX

True to their word her parents showed up at her game. It was rare that they could both make it. One of them always seemed to get called out on a case or attack. Kelly wasn't really bothered by it, her parents had always made time for her games when she was younger. College was different, it wasn't like she could look up in the crowd and find her parents (she could, but never did). Today they were seated fairly close to the penalty box, a place Kelly spent a fair amount of time, but not as much as some of the other guys.

Nick skated up to her patting her hard on the back. She grunted in pain, with the dampener on anything Nick did hurt ten times more. "You ready for this," he asked, his arm wrapping around her shoulder, pulling her off balance. She shoved at him but her refused to let go.

"I'd be more ready if you let me go," she said shoving him again.

This time he let go, grinning from ear to ear. "So feisty, I love it." She shoved him again, her temptation to beat him with her stick growing. Nick liked to tease her before a big game, it was his way to get her focused. The other guys on the team liked to tease her as well, not to the extent that Nick did, they all knew she would kick their asses if they did. Nick only got away with it because he had known Kelly for so long.

"Shut up," she said. "We have a game to win."

Kelly took a hard hit from one of the other players. The impact was so rough it knocked her off her feet. There was an echo throughout the stadium as onlookers watched the hit. Alex and Maggie both flinched, Kelly would be feeling that impact for a while. Kelly remained down for a fraction of a second longer before rolling over and getting up with some help from her teammate. One of them was Nick who checked to make sure she was okay. Kelly waved him off, cracking her neck. It had hurt but it wasn't nearly enough to keep her down.

Everything went by in slow motion, the puck came towards her as the won control, she turned to pass it, getting distracted again by a face in the crowd. _It was him, he was there. _The puck was gone, she cursed under her breath, breaking away to chase down the guy who had control of the puck. She slammed into him setting the puck free for one of her teammates to gather. Again, she broke away from him, keeping wide to give her teammate someone to pass to. Suddenly her head crashed into the Plexiglas barrier sending a jolt down her spine. A heartbeat later, her fist flew out catching the side of another player's helmet. That was when the fight broke out, she threw a punch only to get one back, whistles were blown and suddenly she was on her way to the penalty box. The whole incident only lasted a few seconds

She collapsed on the bench, unable to do anything about the man she kept seeing in the crowd. When she turned around, she spotted her parents and beckoned for one of them to come closer. Alex said something to Maggie before making her way over to the penalty box; they only had a few seconds before people started getting mad.

"He's here," Kelly said knowing Alex probably couldn't hear her. "My dad is here."

Alex glanced around searching for Donovan, she didn't see him but she was sure her daughter had. "I'll handle it." Kelly nodded watching as Alex left, leaning down to say something to Maggie before disappearing up the stands. With it out of her hands, unable to do anything, Kelly turned her attention back to the game.

Alex had no clue how she was going to find Donovan. The stadium was packed full of people and he didn't stand out much in the crowd, aside from his broken nose. She figured her best chance was to check with security, even if they couldn't identify him they might lend her some insight that was beneficial. Pushing through the crowds of people standing in line for concessions or bathrooms, Alex headed towards where she thought she might find a security guard. Turning the corner, she found something better, a uniformed officer, and one she knew.

"Sara, got a minute," Alex asked deciding it was better to approach directly.

Sara turned, grinning once she recognized who exactly was calling to her. "Long time no see Alex," she said. "Is everything okay?" Alex took ahold of Sara's elbow and led her to a less populated area.

"Have you seen this man at all tonight?" Alex handed Sara her phone, a picture of Donovan's mugshot on the screen. "We're looking for him and have reason to believe he's here."

Sara took the phone from Alex to examine it closer before handing it back her head shaking. "I don't sorry," she said, "Do we need to shut this place down?" Alex shook her head quickly.

"No, that won't do us any good, I just need to find him," Alex said. "Do me a favor and keep security off me, I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"I'll do what I can, but you'll owe me for this," she said.

"I know, thanks Sara," she said. "Call me if you see anything."

Alex left Sara on her own; she knew that Sara was capable of following her directions. She was one of the officers that worked closely with Maggie before, and knew Alex from the occasions she had visited the precinct. She had a lot of potential, only her CO's didn't see it that way. A lot of things had changed over the years, but a lot were still the same. Old officers stuck in their old ways, it's why Maggie was so headstrong at work. And why Alex was glad she rarely had to deal with those kind of politics at the DEO.

She kept a slow pace as she continued to circle the arena. Every so often, there would be roars of cheering, sometimes for a goal, sometimes for a call. She was disappointed that she wasn't with Maggie enjoying the game. When Kelly had been younger, she had always made time to make it to her games. Over the years, it had gotten harder and harder to make time to make it to Kelly's games. This week had been one of the few weeks were neither her nor Maggie had been busy. It figured that something would ruin it for them.

Alex continued her loop of the arena for the third time. She wasn't seeing any sign of Donovan. Maybe he was in the crowd watching the game. If that were the case she probably wouldn't be able to find him. It was a wonder Kelly had even seen him. There was a chance Kelly was seeing things. She had been bottling up her feelings earlier; they might have started to get to her. She sighed, she shouldn't doubt Kelly. Donovan was unpredictable him showing up to a public game wasn't out of the question. She was getting nowhere walking around in circles, she might have better luck if she went back to Maggie. They could observe the crowd maybe pick him out.

She was about to do just that when her phone vibrated. Reading the screen she found it was a text from Sara. _Security said there was some activity in an area under renovations. They checked it out and didn't find anything. Thought you would want to check it out. _Alex texted Maggie to let her know what was happening before putting her phone away. There was a chance it was a college kid or two going where they weren't supposed to. But then again it could be something.

Alex started towards the area she remembered had been under renovation. She shouldn't be going in alone. It wasn't that she thought she wouldn't be able to handle him, he may have been dangerous but Alex was a trained fighter, she could take him. She also knew he wasn't leaving here alive, it would cause a major problem and a big investigation, but if it meant her daughters sanity and safety she wouldn't hesitate. Her only concern was the crowd; a stray bullet could seriously hurt someone. If she was going to do this, she had to do this right.

She ducked under the barrier keeping the rest of the general public out. She had to push her was through plastic hanging from the archway, as she did she brought her gun out, gripping it tightly in her hands keeping her finger off the trigger. The corridor was darker and quieter than the rest of the arena, forcing Alex to take it slow as she checked all her corners. There were too many places for someone to hide. If she wasn't careful she could very easily turn her gun on a fan who had decided to sneak back here.

"This ends here Donovan," she said, "I've had enough of you harassing my daughter."

She whipped around the corner her aim darting around the area, but she saw nothing. _There might not be anyone back here at all._ She started to lower her gun. Donovan could be in the crowd, she was talking to no one she had to be.

"Last chance Donovan."

There was nothing, everything remained still and quiet. Her hands dropped to her sides; resigned to the fact Donovan wasn't there _Damnit._ She started to back track, they would have to keep an eye out for him. It wasn't ideal but it would have to do. That should have been the end of it, but as she came back around the corner, someone grabbed her arm, twisting it painfully. Alex cried out, the gun slipping from her hands.

"Looking for me?" Donovan growled shoving Alex against the wall.

"Bastard." Alex stomped on his foot hard enough to make him release her. She dove for her gun only to have it kicked away by Donovan.

Alex got to her feet barely avoiding Donovan's fist as he swung at her. She jammed her elbow into his ribs throwing him off balance enough that she could hit him in the face. He screamed when her punch connected with his broken nose. His hands flew to his face as blood began to flow through his fingers. He stumbled away from her, bent over in pain, leaving the gun wide open for Alex to recover. She ran to it dropping down to grab it, as she began to turn around her finger already on the trigger a cry of rage came from behind her. There was a soft clang as something hard hit her in the side of the head. She collapsed to the ground, the world around her fading in and out of view.

Hot blood started pooling from the gash on the side of her head. Trickling through her hair and down her neck. She rolled her head to the side trying to focus on something, anything. To will herself back to her feet, to save herself, but her body wouldn't respond to her. She was better than this, how did he get the better of her?

"You're finished," he said his voice sounding strained.

The last thing Alex saw before her vision when completely dark was Miles Donovan standing over her, blood soaking part of his face and a piece of rebar in his hand. She saw the anger in his eyes. He was going to kill her.

XXXXX

Lena examined the crater Kelly had created in the wall. It wasn't something that needed immediate attention but the lab definitely needed cleaned if she was going to get any work done. The chunks of concrete scattered on the floor were too large for her to get by herself. She would need Kara or Lori to help her. It could wait until later, for the time being she wanted to look into the sample she still had of the alien venom. She found the compound fascinating she would love to test it with Kara to see if it had the same effect on the Kryptonian as it had on Kelly but unfortunately, Kara wasn't fond of being an experiment.

"Nice place you have here."

The voice behind her startled her. She didn't recognize it and no one should have been down here. Only a select few even knew about this particular part of the lab, there was a reason it was off limits. She spun around coming face to face with the Warden. She was tall, intimidating with her face hidden behind mask. Red strands of light danced around her body from her shoulders to her feet. Lena took an involuntary step back.

"How did you get in here," Lena asked trying to keep her voice even.

Warden took a step towards her cocking her head slightly. "Wasn't hard," she said holding up her hard, small sparks of red coming off her fingertips. "Relax I have no intention of hurting you. You simply have something I want. Give it to me and I'll leave."

"And what exactly are you after?" Lena glanced behind her, knowing there was a shock baton under one of the tables. If she could get ahold of if maybe she could escape and put the lab on lockdown. It could give her enough time to get Kara here, she wouldn't be able to fight Warden but it would give her a safety net.

"Some type of venom, if I can't get the alien I can at least get that," she said. "So hand it over and I'll be going."

Her fingers grazed the baton. She needed Warden to get a little closer before she did anything. Warden waited, her hand extended out for Lena. She wished she could see behind that mask, to be able to see what Warden was thinking. Warden stepped closer to her, "Now Miss Luthor, I don't have time to waste." Lena took that as her chance, she pulled the baton from its hiding spot. Warden didn't have time to react before she jammed the prongs against her neck and electrocuted her.

Warden jerked back grabbing her neck. _At least she can be hurt._ Lena was about to run past when Warden lashed out grabbing her. She ripped the baton from her hands crushing it in her grasp sending plastic flying everywhere.

"You shouldn't have done that," Warden growled twisting her arm to the point she nearly screamed. "I wasn't going to hurt you, but now… I think I will."

She released Lena's arm before backhanding her across the face. Lena fell her cheek stinging from the blow but she did not attempt to run. "I try to be patient, I really do." Warden crouched down in front of Lena reaching out again this time gently caressing where she had just hit her. "You should have just given me what I want." This time she hit her hard enough to knock Lena unconscious. She sighed as she rose to her feet and removed her mask. Why couldn't she have cooperated?

Warden glanced around the lab, looking for the vial Ms. Thorul had assured her was there. Unfortunately, there were dozens of vials throughout the lab, it would take time to find the right one. One by one she scanned over them until she found the one she was looking for until she found it. She examined it closely. There wasn't much left but enough for her to use. She carefully placed it in one of the pockets on her chest plate before dawning her mask again.

She glanced at the unconscious woman on the floor. _What to do with her…? _She glanced around finding nothing before sighing again. It wouldn't hurt to leave her there. Then again, perhaps she shouldn't. She found a couple of bunsen burners on one of the desks and flipped it on. A little fire never hurt anyone, at least if they could make it out. She knocked it over, the fire slowly starting to spread. Warden turned to leave, there was nothing else for her there and she needed to get to Donovan.

XXXXX

Maggie had started to worry when she hadn't heard from Alex after her initial text. She knew Alex could take care of herself, that didn't stop the pit growing in her stomach. Leaving her set she had made her way hurriedly to the area Alex had said she was going. When she came around the corner down the dark hallway, her heart stopped cold. Alex was one the ground, blood seeping from a wound on her head. Donovan was above her arm raised ready to deliver another blow with the rebar in his hands. Maggie reacted without thinking, sprinting forward and jumping at the last second to tackle Donovan away from Alex.

They hit the ground hard, Donovan grunting in pain the rebar falling from his hand. Maggie rolled over, quickly pinning him to the ground allowing her to wrap her hands around his neck. He swung at her as best as he could put his punches had little force behind them and only succeeded in making her press harder. She could feel how much he was struggling to breath but she didn't care. Seeing Alex laying there, unresponsive, in a pool of her own blood had caused something inside of her to snap. Donovan clawed at her arms, desperately trying to free himself but was quickly becoming weaker.

He couldn't breathe, the world was starting to go dark around him. He had resigned himself to die just like Director Danvers had moments before he'd been interrupted. Then out of nowhere, the wait was gone from above him and he could breathe again. He rolled to his side coughing and gasping for air his hands on his throat. When he finally looked up, he saw Warden with Maggie at her feet.

"You took your sweet fucking time," Donovan said through gritted teeth.

"I had a prior engagement," Warden said casually. "I was paying Mrs. Luthor-Danvers a visit. Or did you forget?"

Donovan got to his knees moving to retrieve the rebar. "I was a little busy here." He was startled to see Maggie lunge forward but she wasn't coming at him, she was moving to shield the Director. To him it looked like he would be taking them both out. "Now leave me be, I have something to finish."

He barely made it a step forward when Warden was on top of him shoving him back. "I don't know what Ms. Thorul told you, but this isn't how things work," she growled glancing at the two injured women. "We're leaving."

"But I'm not done," Donovan whined.

Warden turned to him the red sparks of light around her flaring brighter. "If the girl shows up we're both screwed," she said. "You have done enough; we want her on our side not against us. You kill either of them and we will lose her completely. Is that understood?"

Donovan muttered under his breath but made no more attempt to attack the two women. Warden started off, ignoring the rest of them only pausing briefly when Donovan didn't immediately follow.

Maggie glared at them as they left, not attempting to follow. Alex needed medical attention and she needed it then. She squeezed Alex's hand whispering her promise to return shortly before starting off in the opposite direction of Warden and Donovan to get help. It didn't take long to get a medic, a few security guards and Sara back to Alex. Maggie didn't want to leave her side as the medic went to work stabilizing her wife. Someone had to tell Kelly.

"Sara I need you to get Kelly," Maggie said, squeezing Alex's hand again. "Wait until the game is over, have her come to the hospital, but under no circumstances are you to tell her what happened here. I'll do that later."

"Of course," Sara said before turning her attention to Alex. "Is she going to be alright?"

"Alex is tough," Maggie said more to convince herself than to answer Sara.

"Are you going to be alright?" Sara pressed.

Maggie looked up at the younger officer a sad smile on her face. "For now yes, but ask me again tomorrow." Sara moved aside to allow the medic through with the gurney, watching as Maggie stayed to help them. She had no idea what had happened back there, but she wasn't about to get involved any more than she had to. Whatever it was had been way above her paygrade.

On the other side of the arena Kelly was glancing around, looking for any sign of her parents, not finding any. She barely had any time to dwell on it before her coach was shouting at her to get back on the ice and get her head in the game. She shook off the disappointment, they had a reason, she knew. They would apologize and make it up to her later, or try too. Whatever her father was doing there had pulled them both away to protect her. She couldn't fault them for that. Taking her deep breath, she pushed herself over the barrier onto the ice. They would win this game; she would make sure of it.

**a/n: the ending came out a bit rushed but I really don't know what I can do to fix it. Like it said I had some trouble with this but I really hope it doesn't detract to much from the story. See you next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**This is a continuation of the last chapter that ran so long that I had to cut it into two. But I really enjoyed writing it so hopefully you like reading it. So thank you for reading, feel free to tell me what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 9

Sara had waited outside the locker room for Kelly to emerge. She hated how her the smile left her face as soon as their eyes met. Kelly was a smart girl, the instant she saw Sara she knew something was wrong. She left the group of her teammates, earning a few glances of confusion and a jab or two from others. Kelly ignored them choosing to follow Sara without a word.

"Do you want a ride," Sara asked.

"No I have my bike," Kelly said staring straight ahead. "I could use an escort though."

"Done."

Kelly followed Sara closely on her motorcycle as they made their way through the city towards the hospital. As they went Kelly saw Kara fly overhead heading in the opposite direction. She wondered what the emergency was on her end if she wasn't heading towards the hospital. It was a question for later, at the moment her main concern was learning what had happened. Sara had refused to tell her anything, probably under orders from one of her parents. Kelly gripped the throttle tighter wanting to speed past the black and white in front of her, knowing she could get away with it. She decided better of it, keeping pace with Sara until they arrived at the hospital.

She entered alone, Sara having gotten a call she had to respond to only seconds after they had gotten there. It hadn't taken her long to find where she was supposed to be. Over the years she had spent a lot of time in the hospital, both as a patient and as a visitor. She hated how bright it was and the smell of disinfectant always hurt her nostrils. The problem she was having was she didn't know who she was looking for, Maggie or Alex. They both had different habits when they were in the hospital. Alex would sit quietly by herself deep in thought while Maggie had a tendency to pace.

"Kelly there you are," Maggie said rushing up to her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

At least she didn't have to go looking. "What happened? Where's mom?" Maggie pulled away, glancing at something behind her. She took ahold of Kelly's elbow and led her around the corner to a row of chairs. Kelly collapsed into one, looking up at her mother with a mixture of curiosity and worry.

"Alex was hurt," Maggie said deciding not to beat around the bush. "Donovan ambushed her, I managed to get there before he hurt her any worse than he already did. He escaped but the important thing is Alex is going to be okay."

"What did he…?" Kelly couldn't manage to get all the words out. "How bad?"

"She has a concussion, some memory loss and a new scar to add to her ever growing collection," she said the last part with a bit of distain. "She's awake, still a little groggy but she wants to see you."

Kelly started to rise only to have Maggie push her back down. "I need you to listen to me, this wasn't your fault. You are not responsible for anything that happened. Do you understand?" Maggie kept her hand on Kelly's shoulder until her daughter looked away and nodded. She was aware Kelly didn't fully believe her and knew the second she saw Alex she would be blaming herself for putting her in that situation. She also knew Alex would tell her the exact same thing; it wasn't her fault.

Maggie let Kelly up following close behind her as they made their way to Alex's room. Kelly hesitated in the doorway upon seeing Alex lying there, her head bandaged and eyes closed almost as if she was sleeping. Alex heard them and opened her eyes, smiling when she saw Kelly.

"Hey kiddo," she sounded tired but Kelly knew it was because she was sedated.

She held out her hand for Kelly to take and after a moment's hesitation Kelly crossed the room taking the hand offered to her. She squeezed it tightly suddenly having to fight back tears. It hurt seeing her mom like this, even if it was one of the more minor injuries she had sustained over the years. To her it wasn't so much the injury she had gotten, it was who had done it. He hurt Alex because he wanted to hurt her. If it hadn't been for her, her mom would have never gotten hurt. Kelly couldn't stop herself from crying now instead burying her face in Alex's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed over and over again.

Alex hugged her tightly, glancing at Maggie who looked near tears herself. Maggie came over to them, rubbing Kelly's back as she continued to cry into Alex's shoulder. The last time Kelly had cried this hard had been when she was sixteen and thought she was going to die. They had all thought she was going to die. Alex had thought the same about herself only an hour ago. She was sure Donovan was going to kill her before anyone would save her, but Maggie came through, her knight in shining armor. Alex didn't remember it, Maggie had to fill her in on the events after she lost consciousness.

"Kel, it's okay," Alex said trying to soothe her daughter. "I'm alive, a little worse for wear, but still in one piece."

Kelly finally pulled away trying to wipe the remaining tears from her face. "If I hadn't said anything…" She turned her head unable to look at Alex.

"Something like this would have happened anyway," Alex argued. "Trust me, this is nothing. Maggie has done more damage to me sparring."

It wasn't true but it was enough to get Maggie to lightly punch her in the shoulder and for Kelly to chuckle. "Besides," she continued, tapping the side of her head that wasn't injured. "I've got a really hard head." This had Kelly laughing and Alex smiling even though her head was killing her.

"I'm glad you're okay," Kelly said once her laughter died down. "I just wish I could have done something…"

"I don't want you near him," Maggie said seriously. "You leave him to us."

Kelly leaned into Maggie giving her a one armed hug. "One of these days you'll have to stop protecting me." She was tired of being protected, it was her turn to do the protecting. She kept an eye on the city, but her aunt did more for the city than she ever could. She wasn't a kid anymore, she knew what sacrifice was and if sacrificing herself to save her family is what it took she wouldn't hesitate to do so.

Next to them Alex groaned her head falling back into the pillow. She needed to rest, both of them knew that. Kelly didn't want to leave her parents but she had a plan forming in the back of her mind. A plan neither of them needed to know about, it would be better if she had some time alone.

"I'm gonna head home, I'm still pretty sore from the game," she said rubbing her neck, she wasn't lying, she still hurt from the hit she took.

"Alright," Maggie agreed, glancing at Alex. "They want to keep her overnight for observation. I'm going to stay here with her, will you be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah dad doesn't know where you live," she said. "Besides I've got a big dog and a vicious cat to protect me if something does happen."

Maggie ruffled Kelly's hair. "Go ahead and get home, I'll call if anything happens," she said. "Love you kiddo."

Kelly grinned starting towards the door. "You too mom, both of you." She left the room keeping the smile on her face until she was sure no one saw. By the time she reached the exit her fists were clenched. She wasn't going to let this go, not this time. He was never going to hurt her or her family again.

XXXXX

Donovan had to admit that Warden, although intimidating and more than a little frightening, was an interesting subject. She didn't speak much, anything she had to say she articulated in as few words as possible. He watched her whenever they were back at the hide out. When she wasn't cleaning and sharpening her weapons (two axes he had never seen her even take with her) she was hanging near Ms. Thorul, like she was guarding the woman. Donovan was sure Ms. Thorul was the last person who needed protecting, she was dangerous in her own way, the way she sat quietly, devising her plans and silently planning how to eliminate her opposition. At least that's what he believed she was doing, he honestly had no idea.

Truth be told he didn't trust either of them. Ms. Thorul had been very generous when they had first met seventeen years ago, but after their first encounter she disappeared only reemerging recently to get him released from prison. Back then Warden had been a quiet brooding figure, it had been surprising to learn she was a woman. He had never learned the true reasoning behind their interest in his daughter, and now their interests had changed to include Supergirl and the Danvers family.

He scoffed at the thought of the two Danvers women. The one he knew, she had taken Kelly from him, turned his daughter against him. The other he had never seen before, he didn't know who she was just that she was also Kelly's adoptive mother. It made him sick thinking about it. He wanted them both dead for what they had done. If only Warden would stop interfering with his revenge.

"Something on your mind Miles?" Ms. Thorul was watching him with an intensity that made him shrink back.

"What's with the interest in my daughter," he asked. "Why did you come to me all those years ago and why did you wait until now to go after her?"

Ms. Thorul smiled, a sight Donovan had quickly learned was rare. He understood why. Something in the way she smiled was dangerous, it was enough to make his skin crawl. He wondered if Warden ever felt the same.

"All valid questions," she waved Warden over, looking up at the woman. "Why don't you tell him everything?"

"Of course ma'am," Warden said. She jerked her head to the side, urging him to follow her. "This might take a while. Make yourself comfortable."

Donovan took a seat across the room from Warden. She had a tendency to pace, even when talking casually, he didn't expect this to be any different.

"Do you know how rare Photokinetics are?"

"Not really," he said with a shrug. "Never really cared."

"Then to put it simply, it's a rare mutation, on I share with Flare, she and I are the same," Warden explained. "The only difference is her manifests as yellow light mine is red. I've also had years to perfect my methods. I can remove ambient light from around a person. But I'm just one person, we need her to finish Ms. Thorul's plans."

"Which are?"

Warden smirked. "Complete control." It sounded simple, but the truth was far from it. Ms. Thorul, with Warden's help, had gained a foothold on their Earth but people still didn't give them the respect they deserved. Even after Warden's show of power they didn't care, they needed something else to scare them into submission. A second Kinetic would do exactly that. If they could get her.

"She never told you about our Earth did she?"

Donovan shook his head. All Ms. Thorul ever said to him was they needed Kelly for her powers and he needed to do everything in his power to make her loyal to them.

"After we came to you, things went south on our Earth. Supergirl and Superman went…rogue. We had no choice. We did what we had to do."

_ Warden hit the ground hard, the ground beneath her cracking under the pressure and exploding outward. Mounds of dirt peppered nearby buildings as well as anyone unlucky enough to be in her crash zone. She rolled onto her stomach, her fingers gripping the shaft of her axe to the point her knuckles were turning white._

"_I can't keep this up," she shouted. "Tell me what to do."_

_ All she heard back was static. She was on her own for the time being. If she was going to survive she needed to go on the offensive. The only problem was she didn't know if she was supposed to kill him. She got to her feet her eyes darting around frantically for one of the two supers. All she needed to do was take one of them out and she could handle the other easily. _

_ There was nothing on her coms, leaving her all alone. The two supers were circling above her. They had yet to attack her at the same time. She doubted that would last, they were getting just as tired as her._

_ Supergirl came at her first in a flash of blue and red. Warden stood her ground, this was her last chance. _

_ Around them the world slowed to crawl, even Superman seemed to be moving at half his normal speed. Supergirl fly directly at her, her eyes glowing red with heat vision. Warden could take it, it was just another form of light, she could take it, she had to. It hit her in her chest, burning through her chest plate down to the skin. She grit her teeth trying to ignore the pain. All she had to do was hit Supergirl once. _

_ The distance between them closed quickly with Supergirl bearing down on her. Right as the Super went to punch her Warden brought the axe up catching Supergirl in the stomach, sending her and Warden's axe spiraling to the ground. Blood seeped from the wound. Supergirl looked up in confusion, how could she be hurt?_

"_Stay down," Warden growled retrieving her weapon. "I need to take care of your cousin."_

_ She took off to face Superman in the sky. He would be angry, unpredictable, and easy to take down with his cousin hurt. It was the perfect opportunity to finish the fight._

"_You'll pay for that Warden," he said dangerously._

"_Perhaps," she said with a shrug, "but doubtful."_

_ He wasn't as fast as Supergirl, but he was just as strong, and when he hit her she felt multiple bones break. She lost altitude immediately, and he followed, unrelenting in his strikes. Forcing her closer and closer to the ground. _

_ Red light started to bubble to the surface around her absorbing some of the blows. She twisted her hands, manipulating the light into strands that wrapped around his arms as he hit her. It slowly began to wrap itself further up his body, around his neck and torso, until the point that he could no longer move as it held him in place. He struggled like a cornered animal, unable to break the restraints that held him._

"_Kill him," the voice in her ear was loud and commanding. _

"_Just him?" She had to know, she wasn't sure she could do it._

"_Both of them," the voice said. "Do it Warden. Do not disappoint me."_

_ Superman looked at her with such anger that she didn't even blink when a spear of red light exploded from his chest. He collapsed to the ground, unmoving, dead. Warden turned to Supergirl, who was attempting to crawl away towards some type of salvation. It was sad, no one was there to save the hero._

"_Don't do this," she pleaded. "There is good in you. I know there is."_

_ Warden scoffed. "Like there was good in you once?" Supergirl and Superman had both terrorized the city for years, and yet everyone saw them as heroes. _

"_She's brainwashed you," Supergirl continued. "Nothing will come of this, you can still walk away."_

"_No," Warden said a spear forming above her head, "I can't."_

_ She brought her hand down, the spear slicing into Supergirl like she was nothing. Supergirl fell limp, her head rolling to the side. Warden stepped away from the body, unable to look at it any longer. She had just killed the two most powerful beings on the planet like they were nothing. Warden thought she should feel something after such a feat, whether it be anger or sadness, elation, but she felt nothing. She felt empty._

"_You did well," the voice in her ear said. "Return home, we have plans to make."_

"_Yes ma'am," she said, glancing at the two figures behind her. "I'm on my way."_

Donovan stared at her wide eyed with his mouth agape. "You mean you just killed them, just like that?" He didn't believe her and why should he? Donovan didn't know them, what they had to do to survive. He was an outsider, a third party they had involved because of their need for another kinetic.

Warden had to assume that even though Donovan was part of the Children of Liberty and their main goal was the eradication of aliens, he didn't exactly imagine killing Supergirl. He was one of the ones who believed in discrediting the Super, not necessarily killing her.

"I followed my orders," she said. "Just like I'm following my orders now."

"So why kill our Supergirl?"

It was a simple question, a good question. Why did she have orders to kill Supergirl? The answer wasn't that complicated, but it wasn't entirely simple. Ms. Thorul never gave her complete answers, because she didn't need to know everything. Warden didn't like it but she had to deal with it.

"It was an agreement between Ms. Thorul and someone high up in your Earth's government. Someone who believed in Ben Lockwood's ideals," Warden shrugged. "In return for killing Supergirl he would get you released."

"So you needed me, why?"

"At first I figured Ms. Thorul wanted you to control Flare, she knew more about the relationship than I ever did," she paused her hand coming up to scratch her chin. "Fuck she never even told me Flare was your daughter. I knew of Kelly but not of her."

Donovan smirked. "But now you think it's something else she isn't telling you." He was mocking her, mocking the fact that she was kept in the dark. He was enjoying the dissention between her and Ms. Thorul. It shouldn't have made her as angry as it did. Things had always been like this, Ms. Thorul leaving her in the dark. It was no different now than it had been before.

"We need you to keep Kelly away long enough that I can take care of Supergirl," Warden snapped. "I can't beat her by myself, she is different, stronger, and faster than I am. But she was so damaged by you I may actually have a chance."

"Is that why you won't let me kill that Danvers bitch?"

"We want to be able to mold her," Warden said. "She is protective of her family that much is clear. If she were to lose any of them she would kill us."

"So what do we do?"

It was her turn to smirk. Ms. Thorul may not have told her everything, and she may have been bound to whatever orders were given to her, but Donovan wasn't. She could plant an idea in his head and send him out. Donovan would follow the suggestion to the letter, giving Warden what she needed to please Ms. Thorul and make Donovan out to be a reckless old man. He was important but not critical in their mission. Worst case scenario Warden would have to save him from any fuck up he may make. So why not use that to her advantage instead of scolding him for being an idiot.

"That's one of the best questions you've asked all day," she said, knowing her smile was scaring him. "The simple answer is we get her grounded, or more accurately, removed from the fight. And I think you are that solution."

"You want me to do what exactly?"

Warden went over to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and squeezing so tightly she felt something crack. "Let's go for a walk, I'll explain everything."

XXXXX

Lori watched as her mom paced across the room, her red cape swaying behind her. Lena was laying on the couch, a pack of ice on her face. They had woken Lori up with all the commotion. Kara having started to angrily monologue to Lena the second they had landed. Lori wasn't sure what exactly her mom was angry about, but she knew it was nothing Lena had done. Not with the way Lena was laying on the couch, half listening to Kara.

"That…that Warden needs to be dealt with," she hissed, stopping her pacing for half a second. "She should have been dealt with already."

"Darling, please settle down, I'm fine," Lena repeated again, but the Kryptonian didn't seem to hear her. "Your sister is doing what she can to track Warden, but honestly she's been more concerned with Donovan. You do realize he's been stalking your niece."

Kara finally stopped her pacing, coming to sit on the edge of the couch next to Lena. She raised her hand to wave Lori over. Now that she was still, she felt exhausted. She had been running on fumes since she realized something was wrong at L-Corp. The lab had been enveloped in flames when she arrived, and Lena had been unconscious on the ground. At first she had thought Lena was dead because her breathing was so shallow. Kara had saved what she could of the lab before getting Lena medical attention. The doctors told her (Kara not Supergirl) Lena suffered from smoke inhalation and a bruised cheek but nothing serious and send her on the way (much to Lena's insistence).

"Warden is the threat, not Donovan we can handle him," Kara sighed holding out her arm to let Lori lean against her. "She could have killed you, and I wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing because I can't fight her."

"You can't put this all on Kelly," Lena said. "She's tough just like Alex but she's young and new to all this. She isn't you Kara, no how hard she tries to be."

"That's not what I meant," Kara said. "We need to be finding a solution to the problem, I need to be able to help Kelly fight Warden. I don't want her to do this alone, but unless we come up with something she's going to have to."

Lena sat up, setting the ice pack to the side. Kara rarely got worked up like this, especially in front of Lori. She was always collected in front of their daughter, but sometimes even the strongest people broke. Gently, Lena ran her fingers through Kara's hair, before letting her hand trail down her wife's back.

"Don't worry about that right now," she said softly. "I'll handle it, I promise."

"I'll help too," Lori spoke up for the first time, earning a smile from both of her parents.

The reality was they were all scattered. Alex couldn't focus on Warden because of Donovan. Kelly was stuck between her duties as Flare, her responsibilities as a student and dealing with the trauma of her father's release. Maggie was in the middle of a homicide investigation. Lena had to split her time between testing the alien venom, designing a new suit for Kelly, figuring out how to protect Kara from Warden all while running a multi-million dollar company and raising Lori. Kara had her responsibilities as a reporter, a mother and as Supergirl, the last of which she couldn't put a hundred percent into because of Warden. It didn't help that both Nia and James were out of town at a conference. They could have used their help right about now.

"You're right," Kara said. "Let's just forget about it tonight and-"

She was interrupted by her phone ringing. Lena handed her the device, showing her the screen read Maggie. Kara sighed rising from the couch. What could Maggie want this late at night?

"Hey, Maggie," she answered.

"Hey Kar, listen Alex told me not to call you, but you'd find out anyway so," Maggie was rambling which told Kara something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"Alex was attacked earlier."

"What?"

Lena couldn't hear the conversation on the other end but she knew her daughter was listening closely. "Aunt Alex is hurt," Lori whispered as Kara started her pacing again.

"She's fine Kara, a concussion and bruised ego," Maggie assured her. "I just wanted to let you know."

"Who was it?"

"Donovan, he was at the game, Kelly saw him and panicked. Alex was trying to _fix _the problem, but he ambushed her," Maggie explained. "We can talk about it all later, for now we can't do anything."

"Where's Kelly?"

"At home, she was pretty upset but I don't think she'll do anything reckless."

Kara could hear the doubt in her voice. There was something Maggie wasn't telling her. She wasn't going to push it, whatever was bothering Maggie was something she wasn't ready to share. Kara had learned that when her sister-in-law was hesitant she was still mauling things over. If it was important she would have shared it.

"I'll fly over and check on her," Kara said. "You take care of my sister."

Maggie didn't respond for the longest time. "Thanks Kara, I'll see you later." Kara set the phone down turning towards her wife and daughter. She realized Lori had listened in on the entire conversation and relayed the information to Lena. She shouldn't have been surprised, the two of them shared that habit, but Kara was better about doing it without being caught.

"I guess I don't have to tell you what's going on," Kara said sighing. "I need to check on Kelly, will you be alright?"

Lena smiled. "Yes, don't worry Kara. This is important." She could see her wife hesitate. Kara didn't want to leave her alone after the events that had unfolded that night. Lena couldn't blame her, she didn't exactly want Kara to leave either, but if Maggie was worried about Kelly she needed to go. She wouldn't have been gone long.

She went over to Lena, kissing her briefly before turning to Lori, who looked grossed out by her parents PDA. "You better get back to bed," Kara said, leaning down to kiss the top of her daughters head. "Don't worry about your aunts or cousin, they'll be fine."

"I know," Lori said confidently. "Kelly is the toughest person I know."

Kara smiled. She knew Lori looked up to Kelly, almost as much as she looked up to Kara and Lena. Kara felt the same about Kal-el, even though he was technically younger she looked up to him. But Kara knew her cousin had his faults and Kelly had her faults. She wasn't as perfect as a lot of people thought. Deep down Kelly was broken. Lena understood it better than the rest of them, having grown up in an unloving home. She and Kelly shared that to a degree. Kelly got out early but the trauma was still there and Kara figured it always would be.

"I'll see you two later," she said starting towards the window. "Love you both."

Then she was gone, leaving Lena and Lori alone on the couch.


	10. Chapter 10

**So once again this chapter was starting to run so long I had to cut it in two, no problem means more content for you lovely readers. On another note this chapter was a little hard for me to write but hopefully the quality didn't suffer too much. I really want to give you something you enjoy so I hope you like it nonetheless. Next chapter should be up in a couple of weeks. In any case thanks for reading, let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 10

"Damnit…"

Her parents never locked the office door. At least they didn't anymore, Maggie did occasionally when she was working on a case she didn't want Kelly to snoop into. When she was younger they had always locked it, never wanting her to see the murder board Maggie sometimes kept. She wasn't expecting it to be locked when she returned home. Then again maybe her parents foresaw this happening and locked it on purpose. She could tear apart the house looking for the key, or she could pick the lock. The second option sounded a little easier and less time consuming.

She went to her parent's bedroom, she knew that one of them kept a lock picking kit there. Kelly also knew exactly why it was there, though she wished she didn't. For people who made a living keeping secrets her parents where horrible at it. She lifted up the mattress, digging out the pouch that had the objects she needed to pick the lock. Kelly was just happy her parents no longer kept it in the drawer of their…_stuff._

Titan came over to her as she kneeled in front of the door. She rubbed between his ears. He had always been a good dog, almost like a guardian to her since they got him. She knew he was getting up there in years but he still had a lot of life left in him. He was also a great guard dog.

"Do me a favor buddy," she said scratching his neck before pointing towards the front door. "Watch."

She waited for him to walk towards the end of the hall and sit. Titan had been trained like a police dog but he never was one, it was just her mother's slight paranoia that lead to his training. They had gotten him not long before she had been hospitalized at sixteen. Her parents had made sure to bring him to her while she was recovering. She felt connected to the German Shepard, he really was man's best friend.

Kelly inserted the lock pick, twisting it every which way trying to get the lock to open, but after three minutes of trying she realized she wasn't getting anywhere. She fell back in frustration, it shouldn't be that hard to pick a simple lock. Part of her wanted to break down the door, it wouldn't have been that hard. One solid kick to just under the knob would break the frame. If she did that her parents would know immediately what she had done.

Behind her Titan began to growl. She turned her head, seeing him on all fours, his head was low and he was bearing his teeth. Kelly rose to her feet slowly, light forming around her hand. Titan wouldn't growl at her parents, he shouldn't growl at her aunts or cousin, he was still growling at the cat but Kelly didn't think this was Cornflake.

"Kelly?"

Kelly swung around, kicking the lock picking kit across the hall into her old room. The light disappeared from her hand, she might look suspicious if she greeted her aunt with hostility. She ripped the two remaining picks from the door, chucking them into her room with the rest of the kit. She brushed off her shirt hoping she didn't look to suspicious.

"Hey Aunt Kara," she greeted her when she entered the family room. "What are you doing here?"

"Maggie called, she wanted me to check up on you," Kara said walking over to scratch Titan behind the ears. "She's worried."

She couldn't help chuckling. "Y'know for someone who never wanted kids she's really good at the whole mom thing." Kelly teased her mom about it all the time after she found out that her parents had called off their engagement after Maggie put her foot down about kids. She never meant it in a way that hurt Maggie, she was always kind about it. All she really teased about was how amazing of a parent she was after being so adamant she never wanted kids.

"She loves you Kelly," Kara said seriously.

"I know, believe me," Kelly said smiling. "I think it annoys Alex sometimes just how close Maggie and I are. After all it took me a year to even call Alex mom, I started calling Maggie mom after two months."

"So you're okay?"

"I'm upset, and I want to kill him for hurting my mom," Kelly admitted. "But I'm not going to do anything. Even if I wanted to I don't know where I would start."

Kara nodded, seeming to believe her. "Do you want me to stay?" Kelly could tell Kara didn't want to stay if she could help it. If she had to guess it had to do with whatever had happened earlier that night.

"No, I'm fine. I actually was about to go to bed," she lied. "I can tell you'd rather be home with Aunt Lena and Lori."

"Can't get anything by you."

Kelly shrugged. "What can I say my mom is a detective." Kara hugged her. She was tense, her mind clearly somewhere else. Kelly was glad that she didn't linger much longer after she broke the hug. Titan whined when she left, having always enjoyed the attention her aunt gave him. Kelly had to ignore it, she needed to get into the office.

"If the lock pick isn't going to work," she muttered holding up her hand as light formed around it, "maybe this will."

She kneeled in front of the door placing her hand on the keyhole, the light slowly seeping through it. She had only done this once when Nick had locked himself out of his car. As luck would have it she heard a click through the door. She pushed it open finding the room dark and undisturbed. Part of her felt bad for breaking into the room, whatever her parents had locked in here was there for a reason.

"If I were a file where would I be?"

Both Alex and Maggie were organized people, they would have it somewhere simple, a drawer or shelf. Or right on top of the desk. She flipped open the file, seeing her father's face on the first page. The image was old, it was from his arrest seventeen years ago. He didn't look to different from back then but his hair had definitely grayed. It was a face she wished she could forget, but knew it would be a long time before she could. What she needed was where he was imprisoned. It probably wasn't in the file but it never hurt to check.

She sat back in the desk chair. It creaked under the weight but was soon quiet as she read through the papers. Alex had always been evasive when it came to conversations about Miles Donovan. Kelly understood why to a degree, but there had been things she wanted to know about her biological father. The main thing was why. She wanted, no needed, to know why he had hurt her. Alex would never answer her. She came to know that was because Alex didn't have an answer. His file told her enough, he had been married once before, to a woman who had died under suspicious circumstances. Donovan had been the main suspect but the case had been a mess and no charges were brought against him. _He must have married my mother after that…maybe that's why she never came home. Maybe he killed her to._

Kelly clenched her jaw, all the more reason he should be behind bars. She continued to read through more of the file until she came across what she had been looking for to begin with. Miles Donovan had spent his sentence at Albatross Bay Prison. The same prison Ben Lockwood had been imprisoned. It made sense, they had a shared history and had been charged for a lot of the same crimes (though Lockwood had multiple other charges on top of the ones he received for the Children of Liberty).

She would have to go to the prison and speak to Donovan's old cellmate. She knew no one there would give her any information, but a prisoner might. The problem was getting into the prison. She had no idea who Donovan's old cellmate was which meant going in for a visit was off the table. The only other option was to go there to interrogate him, but that wouldn't happen without proper identification that she didn't have.

"Fuck me…"

It was a dead-end. How could she possibly pull something like this off without Alex or Maggie's help? The answer was simple – she wouldn't. _Unless…_ Kelly rose from her seat, moving over to the filing cabinet on the far side of the room. She used her Photokinesis to pop open the lock, much like she had the door, allowing her to open and search through the top drawer. If she remembered correctly there was an old DEO badge Alex kept in there. It took some digging but she eventually found it buried underneath dozens of loose papers.

She opened it with a slight smile. The image on the plastic was of her mother when she was younger, probably in her late twenties when she had let her hair grow out. Sometimes she wished she had known the old Alex. The Alex that all the agents at the DEO revered. Kelly had seen glimpses of that Alex but the one she knew, the one she called mom, was more subdued, less inclined to violence. Maybe if she knew that old Alex she could understand her reasons now.

Kelly sighed. It didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was finding Donovan before he had another chance to hurt them. He wanted a fight, she would give him one. She shut the door, flipped the lights off and closed the door behind her. The prison would have to wait until morning. Until then she would prepare, maybe even get some sleep.

She hadn't slept at all. There was too much weighing on her mind. When her parents found out what she had done they would be furious. She knew what the consequences would be for going off on her own on her own war path against Donovan. What she was planning on doing was something neither of her parents would understand. It would take them time to forgive her for not letting them handle it. She couldn't stand by any longer. She needed to step up and look out for her parents for once. They had sacrificed enough for her already.

It had been the early morning, just as the sun was rising, that she left Titan and Cornflake to their own devices and left on her motorcycle towards Albatross Bay Prison. She had made some minor adjustments to the DEO badge she had barrowed. It wasn't perfect but it would fool anyone who didn't look to closely. She had felt horrible the entire night. Kelly had never once stolen from her parents or broken into their private files. Now she had done both, not to mention how illegal it was to steal a government personnel badge.

Her heart was pounding out of her chest by the time she stepped through the doors into the front area of the prison. She swallowed it down. If her voice was shaky when she spoke to the guard they would never let her in. Confidence was key as ever. She approached, keeping her back straight, arms to her side, unsmiling. The guard glanced up from behind the glass.

"You the one that wants to see Rodney Wendel," he asked.

"Yes."

After some digging she had found her dad's former cellmates name. After that she had called the prison to set something up. So far everything had gone to plan, but it was still early and she was crossing into dangerous territory.

"Surrender any weapons then follow the officer to the interrogation room, do not make any physical contact with the prisoner and your questioning may be stopped at any time."

Kelly shook her head. _Are all prison guards like this? I guess I'd be bored to if I had to sit behind a desk all day…_ She followed what he had told her, though she had no weapons on her, and followed the other guard through a series of gates. She found it amazing that prison guards ever knew where to go. The prison was like a maze of locked gates that all looked the same.

The guard finally stopped at a door opening it for her before ushering her inside. "Wendel will be brought in soon." He said before leaving. There was another guard in the corner who said nothing. She knew it was standard procedure to have a guard in the room with the prisoner for those with more violent crimes, but she thought it was overkill for Wendel. She had done some research and learned he had been charged with armed robbery but had never hurt anyone. As far as she could understand he was non-violent. She took a seat in the metal chair on one side of the table. She was nervous, she had never questioned someone like this before. Sure, she was Flare and took down bad guys all the time, but never like this.

Time went by at a snail's pace as she waited for someone to bring Rodney to the room. Nothing ever happened fast at the prison it seemed. That was one thing she loved about the DEO, there was no waiting, if there was information to be got they could get it. It made sense, a lot of the prisons hated cops and agents, they would come in and act like they called the shots. Maybe they did, but it was still annoying that some guards or the prison Warden took it out on all of them (Kelly did not included herself on that list).

It was another four minutes before the door opened again and a guard leading Rodney Wendel entered the room. Kelly rose as Wendel was walked around the table to the other chair, only sitting down once he was seated and the second guard left. She glanced over Wendel, he was skinny, his hear almost to his shoulders and unkempt. His was sharp and there were bags under his eyes from exhaustion like he hadn't had a good night sleep in years. She wondered if the restless nights were because of regret or just being in prison in general.

"You must be Rodney Wendel," she said with a slight grin. "I'm Kelly."

"You a cop or something?"

"No not exactly," she said. "But that isn't important. Would you be willing to answer some questions for me?"

Rodney shrugged. "Why not? It's not like I have anything else to do." To Kelly he didn't seem very interested at all. He looked bored, almost inconvenienced from being brought there. She didn't really care as long as he gave her the information that she was after.

"I want to ask you about your old cellmate, Miles Donovan," she said, earning his attention. "He was recently released, I'm sure you're aware of that."

"That should have never happened."

"Why's that?"

"Donovan is a monster, he should have rotted in here," Rodney said. "But that lawyer of his…I don't know what kind of connections he has but they cut through any red tape keeping him here."

That was news to her. As far as she knew her dad never had a lawyer, he had refused counsel during his trial refusing to put his life in anyone else's hands. Even Alex had told her no one would go near Donovan because he was connected to both the Children of Liberty and Cadmus. That was why they had been so confident he would never be released, he was a terrorist.

"Did he ever mention the lawyer's name?"

"Morrison? Marrison?" he shook his head trying to remember. "Something like that, I can't remember."

"Did he say anything else?" Kelly pushed, anything he could tell her she needed to know. "Maybe who hired the lawyer or his plans if he got out?"

Rodney glanced at the guard standing behind her. Something in his eyes told Kelly he didn't want the guard to be there. She was already breaking the law, she might as well go big with it. She turned around nodded for the guard to leave. At first he hesitated but when she glared at him he made to exit the room. Once the door had shut behind him Kelly turned back towards Rodney.

"Donovan was, no is, a fucked up guy, we shared a cell for five years and day after day all he talked about was his daughter," Rodney said leaning across the table so he could lower his voice. "He was obsessed with 'getting her back' whatever that meant. When that lawyer came around Donovan started bragging to everyone how that 'government bitch' his words not mine, would bay for taking his daughter away."

The government bitch must have been her mom. She'd picked it up quickly that Donovan hated Alex and would stop at nothing to see her suffer. It didn't surprise her that Donovan was obsessed, but to brag about it to other prisoners seemed pretty stupid. It was almost like he was trying to get caught. Then again he wasn't very smart either, he was cunning, having gotten the jump on Alex, but that was the extent of it.

"Did he say how?"

"Not in so many words," Rodney said. "Not that made sense at least. He always seemed a little crazy to me."

"Bit of an understatement," Kelly muttered.

Rodney laughed catching Kelly off guard. She hadn't expected things to go so smoothly with Rodney. Much to her surprise (and relief) he had been very forthcoming with her. It surprised her more just how friendly he seemed to be.

"Can I ask you something Kelly?"

"Sure," she said.

"Why are you so interested in Donovan?" it was a question she hadn't been expecting but she shouldn't have been surprised. "Has he done something?"

Kelly sat back in her seat trying to put a little distance between them. She wasn't sure how to answer his question. On the one hand it didn't matter if he knew who she was, he couldn't do her any harm. On the other hand she didn't want to risk the prison Warden discovering who she was not to mention how she had gotten through security through false pretenses. Rodney was watching her, waiting for some kind of answer. She wasn't getting out of this unless she cut off the interview, which she didn't want to do. Rodney had given her something to go on, he deserved something for that. _Might as well…_

"Donovan hurt someone very close to me," she said. "He needs to answer for what he did and I'm going to make sure that he does."

"Who'd he hurt?"

She recoiled and he took notice. He held his hands up, "I'm sorry I don't want to pry, I don't get many people to talk to."

The room was silent after that. Kelly wasn't sure what to do, she had the information she needed but part of her wanted to stay longer. She needed to go, needed to find Donovan before he hurt anyone else. She couldn't let that happen.

"My mom," she said surprising herself. "Donovan attacked my mom. Nearly beat her skull in with a piece of rebar."

She could see it on his face as it dawned on him exactly who she was. He was smart enough to put two and two together. She could tell he wanted to say something but was being held back by something. Maybe he didn't want to offend her? It could be dozens of things keeping him from speaking, but before she could learn what the door flew open. Two guards piled in followed by a man dressed in a suit. He must have been the prison Warden and boy did he not look happy.

"This interview is over," he said to them before turning to one of the guards. "Take Mr. Wendel back to his cell."

Rodney went without any struggle, leaving Kelly alone with the warden and a guard. She knew how this would go. He would escort her out of the prison, threaten her with legal action, she would make some kind of comment and he would let her go. At least she hoped that was how the scenario would play out. She didn't need to call her parents and explain to them why she needed them to bail her out of prison.

"You, with me, now."

He allowed no time for arguing as he left the room the guard lagging behind until Kelly followed the prison warden. She followed them through the maze of checkpoints and halls. Kelly was finding she hated prisons as much as she hated hospitals. She was actually glad that she was leaving. Although she now had a more difficult task, breaking into Maggie's office at the precinct. Kelly had heard Maggie discussing with Alex a case of a lawyer found dead in an alley with connects to Warden. She was hoping it wasn't the same lawyer Rodney had told her about.

"I should have you arrested," the warden said as they passed through the last checkpoint.

"You can try."

He stopped dead in his tracks causing Kelly to collide with his back. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he shouted. "You come into my prison, question my prisoners and now this?"

Kelly met his gaze with a smirk. "Do really want to mess with me? You seemed all too happy to get my father out of your prison." That got him to pause. She could see it in his eyes as he realized who exactly she was talking about. "I'll be going, if that's okay." She didn't wait for an answer. She was out the door before he could compose himself. No one came after her, no one tried to stop her.

The drive to the precinct was short. No one gave her a second glance as she walked through the building. She was there all the time bringing her mom lunch or running information between the police and DEO. This time though she was hoping Maggie was still with Alex at the hospital, or at least at home. If Maggie were at work there was no way she would be able to get the information she needed. She nodded at a few officers as she navigated her way to the Science Division but otherwise kept her head down.

"Kelly? What are you doing here?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of her name. She knew that voice, it was a voice she usually didn't mind hearing but one she didn't want to hear now. Thinking quickly she spun around plastering the biggest grin she could manage.

"Hey Sara," she said. "How's it going?"

"Been busy without your mom here, but we're managing," she said with a smile. "How are your moms by the way?"

"Alex is worse for wear, but you know here. Maggie is good or is at least pretending to be," Kelly said.

"And you?" She reached out to squeeze Kelly's arm. "I know it has to be hard on you."

Sara's hand lingered on her arm longer than it should have. "I'm fine. I'm processing, or something…" Kelly scratched the back of her neck, the longer she was there the more she risked being caught. "Listen Maggie sent me to grab something out of her office, I want to get it before she gets home. You mind?"

Sara let go of her. "Of course not, her office is unlocked. Just don't touch anything you're not supposed to."

"Don't worry, I know the rules," she said. "I owe you one."

"Yes you do," Sara said. "Say dinner? Next week."

"If I can worm my way out of work, sure," Kelly agreed. "I'll call you."

Smiling, Sara left Kelly on her own, much to Kelly's relief. She liked Sara she really did. She enjoyed the flirting and was always open to more than that. It didn't bother her Sara was a couple years older than her. What really bothered her was the fact Sara worked with Maggie. Her parents were respectful of her relationships but they tended to get a little nosy. The farther she could keep her relationships from her parents work the better.

She shook it off. It could wait, right now she needed to focus on Donovan and anything that could lead her to him. Crossing the room, passing dozens of desks she arrived at her mother's office. The door was unlocked, which wasn't unusual, officers knew better than to enter Maggie's office when she wasn't there. Kelly was not an exception to the rule, but at that moment she had to ignore it. She glanced through the blinds, not seeing anyone watching her, Sara had her back to her. Confident she wasn't being watched, light spread around her as she sped through the files until she found what she needed.

"God damnit…"

He was dead. Marrison was dead. It was a dead end. How could she find Donovan with a dead man? The light around her fist began to solidify as her anger grew. _What am I supposed to do now?_ She knew the answer, but she wished she didn't. She couldn't do anything. _Fuck…_

Outside of the office Sara had stopped whatever she was doing to glance towards her. Kelly collected herself forcing a grin as she waved at the officer. Beside her she opened a draw and dug through it until she found something she could pass off as the reason she was there. She could explain to Maggie later why her spare keys weren't at the office. Once she was satisfied she shut the drawer as well as discreetly turned off the computer. She hurried out of the office and pass Sara with a small nod. Sara made to say something but didn't get the chance before Kelly was out of sight.

Once she was outside Kelly took a deep breath, holding it for several seconds. She was getting frustrated. When she got frustrated she stopped thinking clearly. The best thing for her to do was take a step back and reconfigure. She could find Donovan, it would just be more difficult. What she really needed was another pair of eyes, someone she trusted but didn't know the whole story. Someone like Nick. She pulled out her phone to write a quick message.

'_**Meet me at the alien bar 30 minutes. I need a drink.'**_

Satisfied Nick would be there without question she headed towards her motorcycle she had parked across the street. If she got to the bar early enough she could get a drink or two in before Nick arrived. With the way things were going she would need it.


	11. Chapter 11

**What a long chapter, my god. But hey it's done and man did I enjoy writing it. Hope you enjoy reading it, I am so grateful for your continued support and can't wait to keep going. Things are starting to pick up a little here. Thanks for reading, please review and as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 11

Maggie tried so hard to get Alex home and into bed. Her wife needed to rest, even though her head injury was minor it was still an injury. In true Alex fashion the second Maggie helped her into bed, Alex yanked down on top of her, giggling as she did so. Maggie laid there for a moment, completely exasperated at her wife's antics. It was clear to her that after a nights rest at the hospital that Alex was feeling much better. She twisted until she could see her wife's face, feeling her resolve falter when she saw Alex's big grin.

"I know what you're trying to do and the answer is no," Maggie said sternly, but she couldn't help but push herself up to kiss Alex gently.

"Please," Alex asked once Maggie pulled away.

"Our daughter is one room over,"

"And knowing our daughter she has headphones in with music so loud she'll have hearing loss by the time she's twenty-three," Alex argued. "I'll be quiet."

Maggie dropped her head onto Alex's chest with a loud groan. "Two things," she said holding up two fingers for emphasis. "One you have never been quiet, two, you have a concussion, if you hit your head again I have to take you back to the hospital and you get to explain to the doctor what the hell happened."

She could tell that she won the argument because Alex crossed her arms over her chest (or at least tried to) and pouted. Maggie knew Alex wasn't serious, not with Kelly being around, but she would always try. Of course thinking about Kelly brought up the question, where was their daughter. If she had been in her room she would have heard them return and come out to greet them. So far there had been nothing, which had Maggie worried.

"Once all of this is over, how about you and I take a week off and just…breathe for a little," Maggie suggested, suddenly feeling the need to go check in on Kelly and needing an excuse to do so.

"Like that will ever happen," Alex said with a smile. "Go check on her, something is bound to be up if she's this quiet. Seventeen years and not much has changed."

"The amount of money we spend on liquor sure has."

That was something they really needed to sit down with Kelly and talk about. She didn't drink that often, but when she was stressed she handled it the same way Alex did which wasn't healthy. They had always avoided the topic because it made them hypocritical and they knew Kelly would argue it even though she knew how unhealthy it was too. Of course Kelly could make her own decisions, they would just have to watch out for her to make sure she didn't get herself hurt.

Maggie crawled off of Alex, leaving her wife with a peck to the cheek, a silent way to say she'd be right back. She was only going down the hall but part of her was afraid to leave Alex alone. Leaving Alex on her own had led to her getting hurt, and even though she was in no danger in their own home Maggie was still scared. Maggie had become very protective of her family over the years, something she had never realized until recently. Alex was a warrior, a one woman army when left to her own devices, she didn't need someone to protect her. Kelly was a strong meta-human with Alex's determination and Maggie's unrelenting stubbornness. It didn't mean that Maggie didn't try to protect them both when matters called for it.

"Kel, you in there?" she called out knocking on the door. "Kelly, come on open up."

When Kelly didn't answer on the third knock Maggie opened the door. Much to her surprise her daughter wasn't there like she had thought. In fact it looked like her daughter hadn't been there since the morning. The bedsheets were hanging off the bed, unmade, dirty clothes were thrown aside and forgotten about. Kelly was usually a neat person, to see her room like this told Maggie that she was extremely stressed. She looked around a bit longer trying to find anything else out of place. Kelly wasn't one to disappear without leaving a note which Maggie had yet to find.

She sighed. _What is she up to…?_ Immediately she wished she hadn't asked herself that, on the ground in front of her just under her foot was a slender piece of metal. She bent down to pick it up, feeling her heart sink. _Lock pick…she didn't…_ Maggie dropped the lock pick, turning on her heel towards her office. She turned the handle, her heart sinking further when it gave way allowing for the door to swing open. It didn't take her long to figure out what Kelly had broken in for, she had left the file she kept on Donovan almost in plain sight. The only reason Kelly would have broken in for the file was if she was going after Donovan. It was the only explanation.

"Mags? Is something wrong?" Alex was standing in the doorway watching her with a concerned look.

"No, just left the door unlocked I guess," she lied. "I guess Kelly went out with Nick."

"You're a really bad liar," Alex said crossing the room. "She went after him, didn't she?"

She shouldn't have been surprised. Alex could read her like an open book. She just didn't want Alex overexerting herself, she hadn't been cleared for active duty yet, the doctors giving her at least a week before they wanted her back at work. Something Maggie knew would never happen, Alex would be back at the DEO by tomorrow afternoon.

"I'll find her," Maggie said quickly. "I'll call Kara, she and I can go looking." She held up her hand knowing Alex was about to argue. "And Lori will stay here to keep you company so you don't do anything reckless. Kelly gets that from you, y'know."

"I am not solely to blame for that," Alex pointed out.

"Go lay down," Maggie said, her phone already in her hand. "The longer you fight me the longer I'll keep you from work. And you won't enjoy it."

Once again Alex opened her mouth to argue but was stopped by Maggie greeting Kara over the phone. She definitely was at a disadvantage with Kara on Maggie's side, no point on arguing a fact she couldn't win. It was hard to take a step back to let Maggie deal with this. She should be helping to find Kelly, if she was in danger Alex needed to be there.

XXXXX

"So this Donovan guy is your biological father," Nick asked in between bites of his wings.

Kelly had been glad her best friend hadn't completely gone off on her when she filled him in on what was going on (granted it was an abridged version of it but still). What she had forgotten was that she had never told Nick about the circumstances of her adoption. He never knew she was abused as a kid, never knew her father was a terrorist. Hell Nick probably didn't even think she had a father. Knowing him like she did, he probably thought she had been lying about being adopted. She did look a lot like Alex, which she always found weird but from what she knew about her birth mother there was a resemblance between the two.

"Yes," Kelly said turning over another empty shot glass.

"And he is a former Child of Liberty and use to abuse you," Nick continued trying to work through all the new information Kelly was giving him.

"Yes."

"He's also the one who attacked your mom and is now stalking you and you're trying to what, catch him?"

"Something like that."

Nick sat back in the booth, processing all the information. If she were to tell him the truth about what she was really planning on doing to Donovan she knew he would still be behind her. He trusted her judgement, even when it was a little bit skewed. Nick was the one person she could trust with everything. He might try to stop her but he would never betray her trust by going to her parents.

"Can I do anything?"

Kelly smiled at him. Of course he would offer to help. He had that thing about him that almost every Superfriend had, the need to help even when there wasn't much they could do. Since they had met Nick had looked out for her, stood up for her and been there for her. Part of her loved him for it, he was a brother she never had but secretly wished she had. With him she could be herself without having to play the protector.

"Be there for me once this is over," Kelly said. "That's all you can do."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Nick smiled at her. Not one of his goofy smiles or the one he gave her when he was messing with her. It was an honest smile. One she rarely got from her. The last time he had smiled at her like that had been when he showed up at their senior prom in a dress that her mom's (yes her mom's) had helped him find. He had been there for her then, when her then date had freaked out because she wanted to wear a suit. Nick had offered to go with her under the condition he wore a dress. Kelly hadn't had it in her to say no.

"So forgetting about this fucker, why don't we get a bottle and just cut loose?" Nick suggested. "Fuck we can get trashed go to a few clubs, meet some girls, and enjoy ourselves. What do you say?"

Kelly thought about it for a moment. It was appealing. Besides, what else was she supposed to do? She wasn't going to find Donovan, so why not get drunk.

"Why the fuck not, let's do it," Kelly turned to the bar, spotting Zach standing there looking bored. "Hey can we get a bottle of rum, it's on him."

"You got it Danvers."

"On me huh?" Nick laughed. "I don't remember agreeing to this."

"I'll get it next time."

"Uh huh sure."

An hour later they were down to a quarter of the bottle. People were starting to stare at them with their incessant laughter and half-shouting. If it hadn't been for the fact that Kelly knew half of the patrons and the bartender they probably would have been kicked out. Nick was fairly wasted, Kelly wasn't far behind but she held her liquor a little better than he did. She knew they would stumble out of there and head down the street to one of the clubs they frequented. Or at least that's what she thought until Nick's phone rang.

"Sorry Kel," Nick said holding up his phone. "Duty calls, mom wants me to meet some rich whatever…"

Nick handed her he keys, knowing she would be sober a lot sooner than he would. "Get it back to me in one piece, will ya?" Kelly took the keys with a chuckle. At least he was responsible even if she wasn't. She watched him leave before turning back to the bottle in front of her. It wouldn't hurt to finish it on her own. She could always take off the dampener and start all over again at the next place. It was the only thing that made sense to her in that moment. She drank, feeling the warm liquid burn a trail down her throat until it was gone. Her bill was settled, and she didn't like the looks she was starting to get from a few of the patrons.

She stumbled out of her booth, nearly knocking some random guy over in her attempt to get to the door. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew removing the dampener would make her extremely sick for a couple minutes before she got all the alcohol out of her system. It wasn't worth it half the time but tonight, tonight it seemed like her best option.

Outside the air was slightly colder than it usually was for this time of the years, the wind cut through her light jacket. Normally, much like Kara and Lori, she didn't notice it. Kelly had always run a little hot and after being treated with Haranel she felt it even less. Sometimes she took advantage of the dampener, which had been designed for meta-humans like her so they could live a relatively normal life. Hers was special though, not only did it suppress her Photokinesis, it also suppressed her Haranel enhancements. With it on she could get drunk, feel the heat and to cold, even get hurt. She liked feeling things like that from time to time.

Other times, like in that moment, with her stomach doing flips she hated it. She sprinted behind the dumpster in the alley, barely making it behind it before everything she had drank in the last hour came back up. It just kept coming, it felt like ages before she finally dry-heaved a few times, her stomach deprived of everything. She stumbled back, barely stopping herself from running into the wall. She had been the one to drink most of the bottle, Nick had only had a few shots, and usually she was great about holding her liquor but that night it had just hit her differently.

Kelly glanced up, trying to decide if it would be worth it to take off the dampener and drive home. She could take a Lyft, pass out on the couch and sleep it off then listen to her parents yell at her in the morning. _Her parents…_ They wouldn't be angry, they would be disappointed. She wasn't sure she could face them after failing to find Donovan and bring him to justice. It would have been better if she had gone through all of this and come out with something.

"You deserve their disappointment," she muttered to herself.

"Young girl like yourself shouldn't be hanging around dark alleyways."

Her senses were so dulled by the alcohol she hadn't heard the man come up behind her. She had no time to react before he grabbed her, dragging her further back into the alley. His grip was tight around her shoulders. She struggled against him unable to reach the dampener. Nothing was working and her mind was so cloudy that she couldn't remember what her parents had taught her. She had to do something.

Thinking quickly, she went limp in the man's arms causing him to almost drop her. When he bent to try and pull her back up, she locked her knees, digging her feet into the ground and shoved backwards. The man slammed into the wall with a grunt, his firm grasp breaking. Kelly pulled herself away, swinging around her fist raised. She stopped dead.

"That all you got kiddo?" Donovan chuckled. "Pathetic."

"You sonofabitch."

She swung at him. Donovan easily stepped out of the way of her fist. She tried again, and again, every single time he stepped out of the way keeping clear of any blow she tried to land. The entire time he had a sick grin on his face. He was enjoying watching her struggle.

"Where are those powers Warden is so impressed by Kelly?" he began to tease her. "From what I'm seeing all you are is a drunk."

Kelly went after him again. He didn't dodge her, he simply turned his body in a way that his fist connected with her stomach before hers did with his face. She collapsed to the ground, all the air leaving her lungs. He stood over her as she struggled to breath, watching her. She hated it, she wouldn't let him do this to her. Kelly rolled onto her side, blocking his view allowing her to reach under her shirt to remove the dampener. It set her body on fire as she felt it all come back to her, she took a deep breath, it was her turn to watch him struggle. She pushed herself to her knees only for Donovan to kick her in the gut. This time though she felt nothing, but he did. She rose to her feet, the light starting to dance around her limbs.

Donovan shrunk back his confidence having disappeared. Seventeen years had passed since he had last seen her user her powers. Back then it had been small things, like orbs of light she would form to use as a night light. Now she could manipulate it in hundreds of ways, into weapons, shields, armor (the last was debatable it never lasted very long). He had never seen what she was truly capable of.

"You really want to know what I can do?" she growled, her knuckles turning white from her clenching them so tightly. "I'm going to kill you for what you did."

She was on him in an instant, her hands grasping the collar of his shirt so roughly the fabric tore. He scratched at her arms to no effect, terror replacing the smug look he had had only moments ago. She could have done it there, broken his neck, stabbed him through the gut, but she needed answers first. She needed to know who he worked for and what their plan was before she killed him. _The roof…that will work._ Donovan was light compared to some of the aliens she fought. She had no trouble flying above the roof stopping nearly fifteen feet above the building.

"Why did you attack my parents?"

"They aren't your parents," Donovan sneered, his grip around her list tightening. "That bitch took you from me, you are my daughter!"

Kelly let go of his shirt, his grip not tight enough to keep him from falling, he fell the fifteen feet onto the roof with a resounding thud. She slowly followed, landing quietly next to him. He groaned in pain as she circled him. It must have hurt, but to be honest she didn't think it had hurt enough. She kicked him hard enough to crack ribs, his body went sailing across the roof only coming to a stop at the wall.

"How does it feel Donovan?" Kelly went over to him, grabbed his arm and forced him to sit up only to punch him in the face. "You still think I'm pathetic? Or are you scared?"

Donovan spit out blood and a piece of a tooth before looking up at Kelly. "You'll have to do more than that to get a reaction out of me." He grinned, his teeth stained red and more blood slowly running from the corner of his mouth. "I'll admit Warden was right, you are special, and boy have you grown. You'll be perfect for what the Warden has in mind."

"Fuck you."

Kelly hit him again.

XXXXX

"Anything Kara?"

Maggie and Kara had left Alex and Lori over an hour ago to look for Kelly. They had started at the prison, only learning that Kelly had been after information on Donovan, which they had already known. From there they ended up at the police station. Sara had told them Kelly had stopped by saying she was picking stuff up for Maggie, and that she had left in a hurry. After that they had no lead. Brainy couldn't find her signature anywhere in the entire city, which told Maggie she had a dampener on. That meant one of two things; either she was getting drunk in some bar or, she was trying to hide from them knowing they would have eventually figured out what she was doing.

"Nothing," Kara sighed. "Any idea where else she might be?"

Maggie pulled her Triumph to the side of the rode so she could hang her head. "She could be anywhere in the city." She shook her head in her hands. "Why the fuck would she do this?"

"Don't do this to yourself," Kara's voice was soft, but not what she needed to hear.

"Do what Kara?" Maggie nearly shouted. "Kelly is going to get herself killed all because Alex and I can't protect her."

Kara landed next to Maggie sending a cloud of dirt up around them. Her sister-in-law looked defeated. She knew Maggie had every right to be worried. Kelly had been acting strange when Kara had come by the night before but she hadn't thought anything of it. Her mother had just been attacked, how was she supposed to act after something like that? Kelly wasn't violent though, she wouldn't attack someone without provocation and she would never kill anyone. Kara was sure of that.

"Have you tried calling Nick?" Kara suggested.

"Kara she's not going to be with Nick," Maggie said her frustration clearly growing.

"What's the harm in checking?"

Maggie glared at her from behind her helmet. Normally she would have checked with Nick if Kelly had gone MIA but this was different. Nick wasn't aware of Kelly's past, she had never told him about Donovan or the circumstances of her adoption. It was the one thing Kelly had never been comfortable talking about with him. So why, after all these years, would Kelly suddenly go to Nick about this? She dug her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Kara. She didn't think she could handle talking to Nick at the moment.

Kara rolled her eyes at Maggie. For someone who was so concerned with finding Kelly she wasn't being the most helpful. It took Kara a few minutes to find Nick's number but once she did she called him. The phone rang five times before Nick finally answered.

"Nick, hey it's Kara."

"Kara? Why are you using Maggie's phone?" Nick sounded like he was in a room with a lot of people. If it weren't for her super hearing she might have had trouble hearing him.

"Long story," Kara said. "Listen are you with Kelly? Or do you know where she is? It's important."

"Is she in trouble?"

"Nicolas please…" Kara rarely resorted to calling her nieces best friend by his full name but she needed him to answer her question.

Nick fell silent. Kara heard him shuffling out of wherever he was until the background fell silent. "We went to that alien bar, you know the one, we drank a lot, I had to leave for a family thing," she could hear the annoyance in his voice. "Last I saw her she was still there, drunk as I was…"

"Thanks Nick."

She hung up before he responded, handing the phone back to Maggie. "Alien bar, let's go." Maggie took the phone, shoving it back in her pocket. Kara had already searched that area and hadn't found her. She was willing to trust Nick if he had been with Kelly that she might still be there. Kara took off in front of her leaving her to rev her engine and take off after her. The faster they got there the better it would be.

Kara arrived at the bar only seconds ahead of Maggie in the alley that led to the bar. Maggie came up beside her once her bike was parked only to kneel down to pick up a broken dampener. She was here. The dampener was a bad sign. A broken dampener was worse, something had to have happened.

"Answer me Goddamnit!"

They heard her before they saw her. Kara pointed up towards the roof. It wasn't obvious at first but Maggie could see a glowing yellow light that told her it was Kelly. They didn't have to say anything. Kara grabbed ahold of Maggie lifting her off the ground. They landed on the roof behind Kelly. Maggie finding it hard to find her footing, she hated flying with Kara.

Maggie's heart sank when her gaze fell on Kelly. Her daughter's hand was covered in blood, the light around her was wrapped around her arm tightly waiting to be manipulated into something else. Below her was Donovan, his face bloody from being hit repeatedly. Even soaked in his own blood he was grinning up at Kelly and when his looked to Maggie and Kara his smile spread even wider. Above him the light around Kelly's arm had slowly formed what resembled a blade, extending from her elbow out past her hand.

Kara reacted faster than she did, shooting forward in attempt to pull Kelly away from Donovan. Kelly didn't even turn around, she could feel Kara behind her and the light around her reacted almost like it was alive. Kara stopped dead raising her hands. She didn't think Kelly would hurt her but Kelly was starting to scare her.

"Kelly you don't want to do this," she said as calmly as she could.

"Stay out of it Supergirl," Kelly growled. "He has to pay for what he's done."

"Not like this," Kara said. She needed to keep Kelly's attention in order for Maggie to get up behind her. "You kill him there is no going back."

"Maybe I don't want to go back," Kelly shouted, pressing the edge of the blade against Donovan's neck.

"Do it," Donovan urged her. "Kill me."

"Kelly stop!"

Maggie ran at Kelly ignoring whatever danger she could find herself in. She grabbed Kelly, trying to pull her back but Kelly didn't budge. She was so much stronger than Maggie, it was like trying to move a brick wall. Kara followed her lead, grabbing Kelly's other arm and forcing her back. She had much better success moving Kelly than Maggie had on her own. Kelly fought against them as they pulled her away but Kara's grasp on her was like steel. Maggie had to hold onto her arm with everything she had.

"Just stop, please kiddo just stop…"

The light started to disappear from around her. Kara and Maggie found themselves having to hold Kelly up. The fight had just left her completely. They had managed to bring her back to her senses. Her entire body was shaking violently. Maggie felt that if she didn't hold onto her she would shake apart.

Donovan pushed himself into a sitting position. Laughing through his broken teeth, spitting blood in their direction. Maggie's hand went to her gun, but she didn't draw it. She was afraid if she did that Kelly would snap out of her daze and go after Donovan again.

"I honestly didn't think she had it in her," he said. "But honestly Detective was it really a good idea to save me? After what I did to Agent Danvers?"

"Shut up."

"I enjoyed ever fucking second of it, hurting the woman who took everything from me," he shouted.

"Shut up!" Maggie pulled her gun, releasing Kelly's arm. "You shut up right now."

Maggie took one step forward, ignoring Kara shouting at her. She didn't want to do this in front of Kelly but what choice did she have. Her finger went to the trigger, it would be fast, easy. Kelly would be okay, she had to be. Donovan grinned, that shit-eating grin he always had on his face. Then everything went red. Maggie, Kelly and Kara were thrown back by a wave of red light. Before she fell Maggie saw Warden hovering not far behind Donovan, her kinesis fully active.

Kelly's suit activated shielding her upper body from the kinetic blow. The other two weren't as lucky, both of them hit the ground hard. Kelly watched Warden, who moved like a shadow through the red light around her. Anger bubbled deep in her chest but she didn't move, waiting to see what Warden did. Warden was watching her back, landing just in front of Donovan. She cocked her head turning towards Donovan, her hand outstretched.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, face hurts like a bitch," he said taking her hand. "I don't suppose you can fix that?"

Warden pulled him to his feet, giving him a once over. The entire left side of his face was swollen and bloody. She reached up to press on his cheek bone. He immediately flinched way from her.

"Something is broken, or multiple things are broken," Warden said. "Get back to Thorul, she'll make sure you get proper care for it."

"And what about them?"

"You've done your part, leave me to do mine."

"You won't get away with this," Kara growled

Kara was attempting to get to her feet, Kelly reached out for her but it was too late. A kinetic blast from Warden sent Kara back to the ground.

"Don't be too sure," Warden said. "My quarrel isn't with you Supergirl, at least not right now. I want her."

She pointed to Kelly, waiting for her to get to her feet. "You're going to forget about Donovan for now, and come after me."

"Kelly don't," Maggie warned.

It fell on deaf ears. Kelly was on her feet seconds later. Warden smiled, this was going to be easier than she thought.

"And to make sure we aren't followed," Warden reached into a pouch on her hip and pulled out some type of device.

Kelly didn't see her throw it but suddenly Maggie was screaming in pain. One glance told her she was being electrocuted. Warden disappeared seconds later in a streak of red. Kelly hesitated, she wanted to help Maggie, but she needed to know.

"I'm sorry."

She ran to the edge of the roof, taking a huge leap off of it before her kinesis activated and she took off after Warden. Kara ran over to Maggie, tearing at the device that had latched itself onto her arm.

"Go after her, keep her safe Kara."

"Okay, okay."

Donovan was gone, he had disappeared right before Warden took off. It was the only reason Kara felt okay to leave her alone. As long as Kelly was like this, not thinking of the danger she was running into, she was in danger of getting killed. Kara wouldn't let that happen.

XXXXX

Kelly launched herself forward with a burst of energy she did not realize she had. She was directly on top of Warden now. They had flown out past the city limits, out of the way of anyone who could get hurt. She summoned kinetic energy to hey hand before throwing her arm forward. A solid whip of light wrapped around Warden's ankle. Kelly yanked back then quickly flew downward, dragging Warden with her. She pulled Warden as close to her as possible, twisting in a way that put the other Meta below her. Her plan was simple; hit the ground hard.

Warden struggled but with Kelly's superior strength there was no breaking free from her. They hit the dirt with so much force it shook the ground around them. Warden lost the air from her lungs and begun to gasp for air. Kelly was in much better shape. She pushed herself off of the woman reaching behind her for the staff attached to her lower back. If Donovan wouldn't give her information, Warden would. Then she could kill Donovan for what he did.

"I've already warned you Warden, you can't beat me."

By now Warden had regained her ability to breath. She started to push to her feet. Kelly noticed something different about her. All of her previous encounters with Warden, the woman had been cocky, eager to fight. This time the taunting was gone, she wasn't trying to fight. Something was going on, Kelly could feel it.

"Fight me!"

"No I'm not here to fight you Flare," Warden said, the light disappearing from around her. "I want to offer you a deal."

"What makes you think I care?"

"You should," Warden was walking towards her, brushing the dirt from her black armor. "You love your family, I can see that. I'm offering you the chance to save them. If you join us, I will spare them, no harm will come to them, you have my word."

"And Supergirl?"

"She still has to die. I can't fix that," Warden sighed.

Kelly shook her head. Warden didn't know her aunt Kara was Supergirl. She wasn't about to sacrifice her aunt to save the rest of her family. She couldn't.

"How about this, you give me Supergirl, I give you Donovan."

Somewhere in the distance Kelly could hear Kara coming her way. She must have followed them after Kelly took off after Warden. _I could never do that to Lori… _Warden held out her hand, nodding towards it.

"Your loyalty and Supergirl for your family's safety and Donovan's head," she repeated. "What do you say?"

She was shaking again, worse then before. It would be easy to take the deal, her family would be safe, and Donovan would be taken care of. But Kara…she couldn't do that, she couldn't let her aunt die. She couldn't and wouldn't be a part of that. Warden dropped her hand, her head shaking.

"I expect to hear from you, Flare. Ms. Thorul doesn't like to be left waiting."

Warden took off just as Kara landed behind her. Kelly could only stare at her hands, unable to bring herself to look up at her aunt. Was she really considering sacrificing one person to protect four? No…no. Kara caught her before she collapsed, holding her close.

"I gotcha, you're okay," she muttered to Kelly.

Kelly was vaguely aware of Kara speaking to someone else through an earpiece. She didn't listen, she couldn't, to overwhelmed by what Warden had said to her. She was part of a plan that she had no say in, she realized that now. She had been played, toyed with, pushed to the brink and for what?

"Come on Kel, I'm taking you home."

XXXXX

Lori heard Maggie's Triumph approaching the house before Alex did, followed shortly after by a quiet thud as Kara landed in the driveway. She didn't get up knowing her aunt was already worried enough about Kelly. Instead she kept trying to keep Alex's focus on what they were doing, which was playing cards. She could hear Kelly's heartbeat but it was different, too fast, almost beating out of her chest. Even Maggie's heart was racing, they only one who seemed calm was Kara.

The door swung open. Alex jumped up, nearly tripping over her own feet when Kara entered with Kelly's arm over her shoulder. Maggie Was on Kelly's other side with her other arm slung over her shoulders. Together the two of them were basically dragging Kelly into the house. From what Alex could see Kelly wasn't hurt but something was seriously wrong.

"What happened?" Alex went over to them, looking Kelly over but seeing nothing wrong.

Maggie shook her head. "I'll fill you in later," she said adjusting her hold on Kelly. "Kara found her, she not responding to us."

"Is she okay," Lori asked from her spot on the couch.

Kara glanced at her daughter, "I don't know." Lori came around to join them wanting to hug her cousin, but hesitating when she saw how Kelly wasn't focused on anything.

"Kelly?"

Much to everyone's surprise Kelly turned her head to look at Lori, her eyes finally focusing on something. She stared for the longest time before letting out what could only be considered a sob. She hung her head again, her shaking returning. Maggie leaned farther into Kelly trying to account for the sudden shift in wait as Kelly's legs gave out from under her.

"Kara you and Lori head home," she said. "Alex and I can handle this."

Kara didn't argue. She released her hold on Kelly, moving to gather Lori. Her daughter stood firm, not wanting to leave her cousin in the state she was in. It hurt Kara's heart to see her daughter so concerned for her cousin and not being able to do a damn thing about it. She put her arm around Lori's shoulder, gently guiding her away from the door.

Once they were gone Alex took Kara's place next to Kelly and helped Maggie take Kelly to her old room. The second she reached the bed she collapsed onto the mattress, her suit finally collapsing down on itself. Alex's initial reaction was to stay with Kelly, no matter how long it took. But Maggie was already urging her out of the room. Kelly needed to be alone after whatever happened and they needed to talk.

"What the hell happened Maggie," Alex asked the second Kelly's bedroom door was shut.

Maggie didn't respond verbally, she couldn't find the right words as of yet. She pulled Alex to her, hugging her as tightly as possible. Alex hugged her back, realizing Maggie needed her to feel grounded. She was shaken from whatever had happened when she found Kelly. It terrified Alex, but in that moment Maggie needed her.

"Let's go to bed," Alex suggested. "We can talk about this in the morning."

Maggie nodded against her chest, unwilling to let her wife go. It wasn't the first time they had been so shaken by something that they couldn't stand to let the other go. Over the years it had happened hundreds of times, where one of them came home from a really hard day and just needed to be held. They would fall asleep fully dressed, holding on to one another just so they didn't fall apart. And as worried as Alex was for Kelly she knew her daughter was holding together, even though she didn't seem like it. She was a Danvers and Danvers always pulled through.


	12. Chapter 12

**Well I had enough time between finishing my IDC and studying for my IE to write this chapter. Yes I realize Kelly's mood fluctuates a lot, but she is an emotional person who has never fought with her parents. In any case this chapter was fun, update in a couple of weeks (I'll be alone for the holidays to plenty of time to write). Thanks for reading, let me know what you think and as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 12

Kara was quieter than usual when she got up to make breakfast. She hadn't told Lena good morning, or given her the usual morning kiss. She went about her routine barely acknowledging her wife or daughter. Lena found it concerning that Kara was shutting them out. It was rare for her to do, and whenever it happened it was because something serious was going on that Kara just couldn't bring herself to talk about. Even Lori was unusually quiet. Something had happened the other night that neither of the Kryptonians wanted to talk about.

"Lori do me a favor and go get the flash drive in my office computer," Lena said crossing her arms. Kara was going to talk to her one way or another.

Lori went almost immediately, leaving Kara alone with Lena. Kara seemed to understand what was happening because she set her spatula aside to look at her.

"Start talking."

Kara sighed. She didn't want to do this with Lori in the house. The last thing she wanted was for her daughter to hear how unraveled her cousin had become. It worried Kara just how much like Alex, Kelly was. She remembered when Jeremiah had returned and Alex had beaten a prisoner with the intent to kill if he didn't give her what she wanted. The problem was when that had happened Alex had refused to see how far she had fallen. Kara worried that Alex would ignore Kelly's act of violence in the same way she had ignored her own.

"I don't want to do this with Lori here," Kara said.

"Kara what happened last night," Lena asked refusing to let it go. "What is going on with you?"

Lena flipped off the stove. Kara was going to talk to her one way or another, but she'd be damned to let another fire happen in her kitchen. She followed Kara over to the couch, thankful that Lori had decided to take as long as possible to get the drive she asked for.

"When Maggie and I found Kelly she was seconds away from killing Donovan," Kara finally admitted. "I mean if we had been a second later she would have."

"You wouldn't have been responsible for that Kara," Lena said. "We all make decisions, they aren't always the right ones.

"It's not that," Kara left the couch to move over to the sliding glass door that led to the balcony. "I'm worried Alex is going to sweep this under the rug."

"Your sister would never do that," Lena assured her.

Kara wasn't too sure. Alex would do anything to protect Kelly, she wouldn't let one miss-step define her daughter. She had never seen Kelly that angry, that shaken since she'd known her. Something had changed in Kelly that had Kara scared, but she knew Alex wouldn't see it.

"She wanted to kill him Lena," Kara said. "I could see it, she didn't care what would happen to her."

"Kara sometimes you have to do things that aren't right, it doesn't mean you want to do them," Lena was beginning to get angry. "I killed my own brother, because I had no other choice. He would have never stopped if I hadn't pulled that trigger. What makes Kelly any different?"

"Because she's not you."

She regretted the words the second they passed through her lips. She didn't want to drudge anything up from the past that happened between her and Lena. Of course she had failed miserably at it.

Lena bit her lip, and not in the way Kara found sexy, in the way that Kara was afraid of. There was a distinct difference between the two, Lena's icy stare. She never wanted to see it again after what happened during the Crisis. But sometimes she messed up and earned herself that look.

"She's your niece Kara, and right now she needs all of us," Lena said coolly. "You should know that."

Kara made to apologize but Lori chose that exact moment to return. She wouldn't subject Lori to their arguing. Lori went over to Lena, handing her the flash drive. It was then Kara realized just how much Lori's brief interaction with Kelly had affected her. Lori was extremely smart, she knew when something was wrong. Seeing her cousin in that state must have been hard for her.

"Come on Lori, let me take you to school," Kara said with a short glance at Lena.

"I think I'm gonna walk," Lori said. "If that's okay."

"Of course it is sweetie," Lena went over to Lori giving her a quick hug. "I know you're worried, but Kelly will be alright."

Lori nodded but they could both see she didn't believe Lena. She left, not bothering to say goodbye to Kara. Lena sighed, the entire situation complicated things. She knew there was no way Alex would allow Kelly to continue working on the Warden situation. This meant she would have to develop something to protect Kara against Warden's Photokinesis. Which also meant more late nights at L-Corp. If she didn't want to end up locked in her lab for a week with minimal rest she needed to get a start on everything.

"You're mad at me," Kara said as she watched Lena gather her things. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Kara, yes I'm mad, and yes you are most definitely sleeping alone tonight, but," Lena went over to her, brushing a stray hair out of Kara's face, "I know you are under a lot of stress. I'm going to work on a suit upgrade for you."

Kara nodded her eyes downcast at the floor. She should be handling this better than she was, she was Supergirl for Rao's sake. She was supposed to be the compassionate one who saw the good in everyone. Yet she was standing there judging her niece on something she knew nothing about. Something her wife understood better than all of them, but she had refused to see it that way. Some hero she was.

XXXXX

Alex dumped her coffee into the sink only to fill her cup up again. She didn't want to drink it, her stomach still doing flips, but she was so tired. She hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, having stayed up worrying about Kelly. Maggie hadn't been much better off, but had still gotten more sleep than Alex. Neither of them were sure how to approach Kelly. Alex was furious, she wanted to chew Kelly out for what she had done, punish her by removing her from the case. Whatever it took to get her to understand that she couldn't step out of line like that if she was ever going to be part of the DEO.

Maggie wasn't so sure that confronting Kelly was the right course of action. She thought that Kelly was in too fragile of a state. It was impossible to tell. The night before she had been completely disassociated from them, any form of reprimand would have fallen on deaf ears. There was no telling what kind of state she would be in that morning. Alex was prepared for the worst. Maggie on the other hand held onto the hope Kelly would be back to normal, or at the very least a relative normal after what she had gone through.

"How have we let this get this far?" Alex said dumping her coffee out again. "With Donovan and Warden? The DEO has had no luck tracking Warden, we can't even find her kinetic signature. Even Brainy is clueless and Brainy is never clueless."

"We're missing something, that's the only explanation," Maggie said with a sigh as Alex held out her mug again. "Would you please stop pouring out the coffee?"

"Sorry," she said rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. "I just…"

She trailed off, unable to finish her thought. Kelly was standing just outside the kitchen watching the two of them. She had changed from her clothes from the night before but her hands were still stained in Donovan's blood. Either she didn't realize it was there or she didn't care. What caught Alex off guard was that Kelly didn't look tired or defeated like she had the night before. Now she looked irritated.

Alex glanced at Maggie. Her wife looked as confused as she felt. Kelly didn't speak as she joined them by the counter. She grabbed her own coffee cup, taking the pot from Maggie's hands to pour herself a cup. To Alex her daughter looked like she was in a hurry to be anywhere but there.

"Hang on Kel," Maggie said when Kelly made a beeline for the front door. "What's the rush?"

"Have to pick up my motorcycle before class," she said. "Would hate to cause any more problems for you."

"Hey that's uncalled for," Alex said surprised of her daughter's sudden outburst. This wasn't like her at all.

"Are you serious?" she said in disbelief. Her grip was so tight on the door handle it was starting to bend. "Why did you stop me? If you're so worried about him why did you stop me?"

Maggie realized that Kelly must have overheard their conversation. It explained her irritation, and her shortness with them. It hurt that Kelly was so angry with her and for no real reason. Maggie had been trying to protect her and all Kelly could see was that she had been stopped from hurting a dangerous man. A man that had traumatized her as a child. One look at Alex and she knew her wife was angry but was holding her tongue.

"I'm going to class."

She left before they could respond. Alex could see Maggie was hurt. Why shouldn't she be? She understood Kelly was angry, she was to, but to take it out on them was completely out of line.

"She didn't mean that Maggie," Alex squeezed Maggie's shoulder only to have her pull away.

"Yes she did," Maggie set the coffee pot back in its place. "She isn't wrong either."

Alex let her leave, realizing that nothing she had to say would make Maggie feel any better. This had to stop. The entire situation was starting to tear her family apart, she had to stop it before any more damage was done. There was only one way to do so, Kelly would hate her for it but she would get over it. She took out her phone so she could pull up her text conversation with Kelly. Line's had been crossed and Kelly had broken the rules, she had to do this.

'_**Be at the DEO at 5:00pm, no later, we need to discuss the plan moving forward.'**_

_A plan that doesn't involve you…_ Alex thought as she sent the message to Kelly. She had decided the night before that from then on Kelly would have no part in DEO activities. Put simply Alex was grounding her, for lack of a better word, no more Flare, no more DEO, not until the situation was dealt with. Kelly would fight her, tooth and nail, but at this point Alex couldn't deal with it any longer. It had been a mistake to give Kelly the lead. She could fight Warden, sure, but she was irresponsible. Alex should have seen this coming.

She went to find Maggie, to let her know what was going on, but Maggie was already on her way out the door. She was frustrated, Alex knew that but there was nothing she could do to fix that. Maggie stopped long enough to kiss her wife goodbye before she left without a word. Alex couldn't blame her, but she also couldn't dwell on it. She needed to get to the DEO to put plans together on how they were going to handle Warden.

XXXXX

Ms. Thorul was furious when Warden returned. She was an intimidating woman to begin with, but when she was angry she was a hundred times worse. Even Warden was afraid of her when she got that angry. It wouldn't have been so bad if the rage hadn't been directed at her. She could leave and wait for Ms. Thorul to calm down. This time though all of it was directed at her, and there was nowhere she could run.

"What the hell if wrong with you?" she shouted, "are you some kind of idiot? Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Of course not," Warden was backed against the wall, with Ms. Thorul only a foot away and closing. "We weren't getting anywhere with Flare, we needed to push her."

"So you go behind my back, and nearly get my asset killed?"

_Our asset…_ Warden thought, but she held her tongue. Ms. Thorul's patience was not to be tested, especially by her. She could be replaced with someone who followed her rules and her words without question or hesitation. Warden use to be like that, she would have done anything for Ms. Thorul and she had for the longest time. Something had changed after she killed her Earth's Supergirl and Superman, something that caused her to no longer hang on every word Ms. Thorul spoke. She still believed in their mission, she just felt that things needed to be handled differently.

"That's why I was there, to ensure he didn't get killed," Warden said.

"Not only that, you offered his life in exchange for Supergirl," Ms. Thorul said, ignoring her. "That isn't part of the plan, Donovan is not a bargaining piece, he is are only way of controlling Flare."

"Why is he so important?" Warden finally snapped. "We can control her just fine. Someone like her is easy to manipulate."

"Take that mask off," Ms. Thorul ordered. "And get out of that ridiculous suit, now."

Her words were final. Warden knew where this was going and was regretting it already. She should have never gone behind her back. It wasn't like this was the first time she was reprimanded for going against Ms. Thorul's orders. Nevertheless she did as she was told, stripping out of her suit until she was in nothing but her pants and shirt. The whole process took several minutes as the suit was thick and heavy. She felt exposed without it, she rarely took it off, even to sleep.

"Take one good look at yourself Warden. You are nothing without me, I made you, I gave you that suit, and I gave you the opportunity to become more. Don't you ever go behind my back again."

"Yes, ma'am," Warden said. "It won't happen again, I won't disappoint you."

Ms. Thorul smiled, a cold heartless smile, as she gently ran her fingers down Warden's jaw line. "I know you won't, because this is your last warning." Her grip tightened around Warden's neck, her fingernails digging into her skin, drawing blood. Warden remained still, allowing Ms. Thorul to basically strangle her. It would be over soon, she would let go, leaving Warden to tuck her tail and lick her wounds in a corner.

"Get out of my sight." Ms. Thorul released her grasp on Warden. "I have to figure out a way to fix this mess."

Warden rubbed her neck, smearing blood in the process. "Yes ma'am."

XXXXX

Alex had a migraine. She sat alone in the DEO meeting room with the blinds down and all the lights off. The only light came from the small windows near the ceiling. Her entire day had been one cluster after another. Brainy was no closer to finding Warden's kinetic signature than her had been yesterday, though he had come up with a theory as to why, which made sense so Alex didn't question it. Whoever Warden was working for had a way to hide her kinetic signature, the tech existed but they couldn't figure out where it had come from.

Aside from that Maggie had been silent since she left for work, not even bothering to check in at lunch like she did just about every day. Alex didn't blame her, but it still hurt that Maggie was shutting her out. Kelly on the other hand had been very vocal in her texts. Her daughter was angry, she had every right to be, but she was taking it out on the wrong person. To top it all off Alex had gotten a call from Kara not long after Maggie had left letting her know that Kara and Lena had had a fight. It was more drama that she didn't need. What she needed was the Superfriends to get their shit together and work as a team.

"Hey you," behind her Maggie had slipped into the room, trying to be as quiet as possible. "Brainy said you had a migraine. You doing alright?"

"Ask me again in an hour," Alex sighed. "I'm removing Kelly from the case, permanently, I'm also restricting her access to the DEO. I don't want her anywhere near this. And don't try to change my mind."

"I wasn't going to," Maggie said, taking a seat near Alex. "She'll be mad, and she's going to storm off and not talk to us, but she'll forgive us eventually."

"I don't know," Alex said. "I guess we'll have to see."

Maggie could tell the conversation was done when Alex didn't elaborate. She was struggling with Kelly right now. Things had never gotten this bad between them, the biggest fight they had ever had was about the whole vigilante thing Kelly had started when she was eighteen. This was something even Maggie hadn't expected Kelly wasn't listening she was being controlled by her anger, something so unlike her. It made Maggie wonder just how badly Donovan had impacted her in the few short years he had been a part of her life.

"Are we interrupting?" Lena had poked her head into the room, keeping both Kara and Lori back.

"No," Alex said waving her hand to motion them in. "We were just discussing our next step."

"Where's Kelly?" Lori was glancing around expectantly. "She's supposed to be here right?"

Alex glanced at her watch. _**4:58pm**_. Kelly was cutting it close, but she hadn't expected anything less from her daughter at this point. _She'll be here…she may be angry but she's smart, she'll show up._ Her chest grew tight, she did hadn't considered that Kelly may go after Donovan on her own a second time. It would be reckless, and as reckless as she could be, would she really do that?

The answer was no. At **5:00** sharp there was a small telltale _thud_ outside the conference room before Kelly sauntered in. She looked no better than she had this morning, she actually looked more exhausted then before. But upon seeing her cousin she grinned, the grin disappeared the second she looked at Alex, replaced by a grimace.

"Good everyone's here…" Alex turned on the lights, blinking a few times as her migraine flared. "We have a lot to discuss, starting with you Lena. Progress report on the suit?"

"Slow going," Lena said. "There's been a few setbacks, components I'm missing, parts of the equation I just don't have, things like that. With any luck I'll have a working prototype in two weeks, but that's only if I can figure out how to block ambient light from being drained from a person. It isn't easy."

Alex nodded, deep in thought. Two weeks was too much time, this needed to be done quicker. "I need it done in a week," she held up a hand to stop Lena's argument. "Any resources you need from the DEO will be at your disposal, including Brainy. Whatever you need you'll have it." She had been withholding resources for one reason and one reason alone, the Secretary of Defense had been on her for months about allocating DEO resources to L Corp. At this point she didn't care what he did, Lena was a DEO consultant.

"I appreciate it."

"What about you Kara," Alex turned to her sister. "You've combed over the city dozens of time, still not finding anything?"

"No, it's like Warden only exists when she wants to be seen. Same with Donovan, it's like they vanish."

They were all aware of the enigma that Warden was, but the fact Donovan was able to pull the same stunts bothered Alex. They were missing something and had yet to figure out what it was and that pissed Alex off.

"Mags any progress on the Marrison case?"

Her wife crossed her arms, glancing at Kelly. "Thanks to Kelly's stunt at the prison yes, or at least now we know his connection. There's still a lot we don't know but we're finding a lot of off-shore accounts money was being funneled into. Marrison was working under someone other than Donovan, we just can't figure out who."

So Kelly's antics hadn't been for nothing. "Get whatever information you can to Brainy, maybe he can find out who was paying Marrison." Maggie nodded, she didn't mind handing this case over to the DEO. In fact she preferred it, the farther this case was away from her the better.

"Kelly?"

She shrugged, she hadn't learned much, and after her talk with Rodney everything had been a blur. She barely remembered hurting Donovan, let alone what happened with Warden. "We were right about Warden working under someone, what's been made very clear is their intent," Kelly glanced at Kara, as mad as she was they needed to know what Warden intended to do. "They want me to join them, that's all this has ever been about. She offered me a deal after what happened with Donovan…" she trailed off not sure how much she should tell them. On the one hand they should know the entire truth, on the other they might see her as a liability and that was the last thing she wanted.

"It's alright Kel," Alex's voice was soft.

"Whoever she's working for wants Supergirl dead," Kelly said after a long pause. "She offered me Donovan's life for Kara's."

She didn't tell them about the other half of the deal, she couldn't. With the way her parents were right now she didn't think they would trust her. All of the adults were exchanging glances of concern. Lena moved closer to Kara, taking her wife's hand in hers. Kelly felt horrible, she shouldn't have told them.

"Alright, alright" Alex said, "Things are going to change. Kara you'll be taking the lead on this from now on, Lena I'm sorry but I need you in your lab working on that suit as much as possible, I'll get you whatever you need. Maggie you and Brainy get together to trace that money trail and Kelly I'm sorry but I can't have you here at all. You've become a liability and with Warden coming after you so hard well I can't be worrying about you."

"What?" Kelly barely managed to keep from shouting. "You can't be serious? Kara can't even fight Warden."

"Not now Kelly," Maggie tried to calm her down put Kelly pulled away.

"Is this because of Donovan? Because of what I did?" She could feel her kinesis flare up, light wrapping around her hands. "Don't tell me you weren't planning to kill him, don't tell me I wasn't going to be doing you a favor."

"That's enough," Alex snapped. Gone was Alex Danvers and in her place was Director Danvers. "Everyone out, I need a minute with Kelly."

Lena nodded ushering Kara and Lori out of the room. Maggie lingered behind, she knew what was coming and knew Kelly wasn't going to take it well. Alex met her eye with a look that said, "_you two Maggie, please._" Maggie nodded, her fingers lightly brushed Alex's hand.

She hesitated when she reached Kelly. Her daughter was angry, her kinesis was acting on its own, something that happened when she was like this. The last thing Maggie wanted was to push Kelly too far. In the end she squeezed Kelly's shoulder and left before she could see Kelly's reaction.

Once they were alone Kelly crossed her arms, the light disappearing, trying to make herself look more intimidating. Alex didn't bite, Kelly had learned it from her and she wouldn't be fazed by it.

"Didn't want them hearing how hypocritical you are?" Kelly said.

"It has nothing to do with that," Alex said.

"Then what is it?" Kelly was almost shouting. "Why are you stopping me when you planned to do the exact goddamn thing?"

Alex found herself rubbing her temples, feeling her migraine intensify. She knew Kelly was frustrated, she was to, but Kelly needed to understand things from her point of view. Not as her mother but as the Director of the DEO. She was worried, yes, she was scared she would lose her daughter. But she also had to worry about her agents and Kara, it was her job.

"It's different," it was all she could think of to say.

"No it isn't."

"Goddamnit Kelly it is," Alex shouted finally losing her patience. "I never wanted you to be like that. I want you to be better than I was."

Kelly shrunk back at the harshness of Alex's voice. Even angry as she was it caught her off guard to see her mom that angry.

"I don't want you to end up like me Kel," she repeated. "You shouldn't have to live with blood on your hands."

"I'm trying to protect people," Kelly said. "I'm trying to protect my family."

"That doesn't include murder Kelly," Alex said. "No matter how much they hurt you. Which is why you're being removed completely, your access to the DEO will be restricted and I do not want any heroics out of you until the threat has been neutralized."

"You're grounding me?"

Alex set a dampener on the table with a nod. "If you use your powers at all I will be forced to place this dampener on you, it can only be removed by me or Lena."

"Why Lena?" Kelly temporarily forgot that they were fighting.

"It was originally meant for Lori when she was young," Alex said. "It doesn't matter, you're done Kelly. Go home."

Kelly jabbed her finger at Alex, her anger rising once more. "Screw you, screw you." She regretted it the second she said it but she wasn't going to back down or take it back. If Alex wanted her to go home, she would go and she would stay there, just like she asked. At least to start. She couldn't put the dampener on her if she couldn't catch her, she would wait until she got the right opportunity and end it once in for all.

She brushed pass Alex, nearly knocking into her mother, but deciding against it at the last moment. Kelly threw the door open with enough force that it shattered one of the glass panels around the room. Maggie and the others, who had been waiting by the stairs, all whipped around in time to see Kelly storming out of the conference room. Behind her was Alex, rubbing her temples once more as she surveyed the damaged panel. Maggie was the first to move to intercept Kelly but one glare from her daughter stopped her in her tracks.

She was half way down the stairs before Lori grabbed her arm, forcing the older girl to stop. Kelly tried to pull her arm away, but Lori's grip was like steel.

"Let go of me."

"No, why are you acting like this?" Lori sounded heartbroken. "She's just looking out for you."

"No, she just doesn't want to admit I'm right," Kelly growled. "I know what you're trying to do, it won't work. Just leave me alone Lori."

She could see her cousin was almost in tears as she released her grasp on Kelly. It hurt Kelly to do that to Lori, she had done nothing wrong, but at that moment she wanted nothing to do with any of them. She left without another glance at them.

Back at the conference room Alex just shook her head. She glanced over the banister at the agents below, spotting the one she wanted. "Vasquez stay with her, don't let her out of your sight."

The younger agent glanced up at her, giving her a thumbs up, rising from her seat and quickly jogging off in the same direction Kelly had just left. Alex looked around one last time. "Everyone get back to work, I'll be in the training room." Much like Kelly, Alex disappeared without a glance at anyone else. Leaving Maggie and the others a bit concerned. They had no idea what words had actually been exchanged between Alex and Kelly, but whatever it had been it was enough to make Kelly storm off and for Alex to shut down.

Maggie took once glance at Kara and Lena and realized they weren't sure what to do either. "You heard her, back to work." She left it at that, they all knew what they had to do. They were fractured, which was exactly what Warden had wanted, but they weren't broken, not by a long shot.


	13. Chapter 13

**Happy holiday's everyone! Got this chapter done early enough that I could post it a day early as a little Christmas gift. As I will be spending the holiday's alone with my parents cats (woo) I wanted to get this out so I could enjoy my holiday without having to worry about this. In any case we're starting to get to the breaking point. Thanks for reading, let me hear what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 13

They needed to move now, while the family was divided. Warden had told Ms. Thorul as much, but she hadn't listened. She never listened. It pissed Warden off that Ms. Thorul had some kind of plan that she refused to fill Warden in on. She didn't know the plan, how was she supposed to fulfill her mission when she didn't even know what it was supposed to be. Kill Supergirl? Simple enough. Manipulate Flare to join them? Simple in theory but with the restrictions Ms. Thorul placed on her it was the most complex, convoluted mess that Warden had ever been a part of.

"Get up," she growled at the grunt on the floor.

She had been at it for hours, beating down grunts, forcing them back up to go at it again. There was six of them she picked at random. She knew they all felt like this was a punishment, and in a twisted way it was, but not for them. It was for her, she didn't know what else to do. Donovan would rub it in that Ms. Thorul was slipping away from her. Ms. Thorul didn't even want to look at her.

Three of the grunts closed in on her. One threw a punch, which she caught twisting their wrist and kicking his foot out from under him. Her body twisted as she threw him into the second grunt, the two fell to the ground with a resounding thud. The third grunt wasn't as easy, they had sparred together before, and he could actually keep up with her when she wasn't using her powers. He was calm and calculating something none of the others were. She ducked under a roundhouse kick her arm connecting with his back, he twisted grabbing her arm trapping her with an arm behind her back.

He twisted her arm farther, forcing her to her knees. The three remaining grunts stayed back, knowing that is they descended around her that they would end up being throw by one of her kinetic blasts. The hold on her was growing painful.

"I yield."

He released her arm offering to help her up. Warden swatted his hand away getting to her feet on her own. They knew it was over then, the six of them left together, knowing better than to stick around. Each of them had seen the extent of her anger when she had been pushed too far by grunts.

"I didn't realize you gave in so easily Warden," Donovan was standing in the doorway a smug smirk spread across his face.

Warden threw a bolt of light at him without thinking about it. The concrete was next to him exploded outward wiping the smugness off his face. She wanted to kill him, it would have been easy to snap his neck. She was sick and tired of Donovan, he was doing nothing for their cause except to cause her more trouble. Her recent encounter with Flare had revealed something to her that Ms. Thorul hadn't noticed. Flare became completely unhinged when it came to her father. She would never join them, not with Donovan there.

"Why don't you fuck off Donovan," Warden snarled. "I don't like you, I don't like you being here. And if you get in my way one more fucking time I will kill you."

"Lighten up Warden," Donovan said closing the distance between them. "Your plan worked, you got what you wanted. I got what I wanted. Who cares if the boss is mad?"

Sher snapped. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt she slammed him into the wall. He grabbed her hand but didn't struggle. She found he enjoyed pushing her buttons, he liked pissing her off because he knew she could do nothing about it. He was protected by Ms. Thorul.

"You have no idea what I have to lose," she said her voice growing dangerous. "If she is mad, she will cut me loose and I cannot and will not lose her, do you understand?"

"Perfectly," he said. "Now can you let me go?"

Warden released her hold on Donovan. She couldn't bare to be in the same room as him any longer, she needed to get out, get some air. He seemed all to willing to let her do so. Donovan turned on his heel, starting down the hall towards Ms. Thorul's command center. He had words for her and he knew she would listen to him now with the way Warden was now. Ms. Thorul glance up from her computer screen when Donovan entered the room. He was much less reserved than Warden was around her. he excelled at pushing her boundaries. She even found herself enjoying it.

"That pet of yours is starting to be very unhinged," he said taking a seat on the edge on her desk. "What exactly is her deal anyway? Does she just hate everything? Or just men?"

"Warden has always been extremely emotional," Ms. Thorul said, taking a drink of what Donovan suspected was scotch. "Since the day I found her she has never been capable of keeping her emotions in check. She angers fast, you learn to deal with it."

"So, you just let her go on like this?" Donovan stared at her in disbelief. "To what end?"

Ms. Thorul chuckled into her glass. Donovan wasn't a very bright man, she had known that for a very long time, but she had thought that he would have at least figured some of this stuff out on his own. She hoped his daughter was smarter than he was, she certainly had his temper if his wounds had anything to say about it.

"You don't understand, do you?" Ms. Thorul finished her glass, setting it aside. "Warden is replaceable, she always has been. The goal has always been for Kelly to take her place by my side in this upcoming battle. We would have already been there had it not been for your lack of discretion."

Donovan reached for her bottle of scotch, pausing before his fingers brushed the glass. "May I?" When she nodded, he took it, pouring himself a generous portion in the extra glass she kept on the table. He drank it like a shot, refilling it once it was all gone before he turned his head to look her in the eye.

"Cadmus and the Children of Liberty offered me a unique opportunity, I had been a part of both before you even came knocking at my door," he said, swallowing more of the scotch. "My mistake was trusting Lockwood. If it hadn't been for him Kelly would have never left me."

Ms. Thorul's expression softened at this. Donovan had always come off as possessive over his things, and that was what Kelly was to him. But on some sick level that she didn't quite understand because she herself had never felt it, he loved his daughter deeply. Loosing her had hurt him far more than she had ever thought. Even then it didn't change how he treated her, Kelly had to be molded, and he had done that, but it was all undone by Alexandra Danvers and her wife.

"There is no point dwelling in the past," she said, refilling her own glass. "What's done is done. We need to focus on getting her to us, and then ridding ourselves of Warden. Think you can handle working with her that much longer?"

"If it gets me my daughter back, I'll do anything you ask of me."

She smiled, that cold smile Donovan had learned to expect from her. He held his glass out for her as a silent invitation to their sudden agreement. She tapped her glass to his, watching him close as he finished his scotch. Things would move much smoother now that they had reached an understanding.

XXXXX

Lori had been made fun of for most of her life. People liked her, after all she was the daughter of Lena Luthor, one of the most influential persons of all time, and Kara Danvers, a reporter revered for her unwillingness to let a story go. It didn't stop them from calling her a nerd or loser or whatever else they could come up with. It was mostly directed at the fact she was a Luthor, people still hadn't forgiven the Luthor family for all that Lex and Lillian had done in the past. Lena hadn't been able to escape from it either, even after changing her name to Danvers and doing everything in her power to right the wrongs of her family. It had hurt for the longest time; her parents hadn't been able to do anything to ease her suffering. They understood, sure, but they just couldn't help.

It had been Kelly who had dispelled all the self-doubt Lori had ever held for herself. Her cousin had always stood up for her when no one else would. She had gone through her fair share of bullying as well; she knew how hard it could be when there was no one to stand up for her. Parents meant well but it didn't help. Kelly had always been like Lori's personal protector, her best friend and person she could go to when her parents just wouldn't understand. They were family, they protected one another, and Lori had always looked up to her cousin. She was strong and determined, no matter what anyone said about her. Kelly had never needed superpowers to prove to Lori that she was a hero, she did that just by standing up for Lori when no one else did.

So, when Kelly pulled away from her, told her to leave her alone, to not try, it had hurt worse than anything anyone had ever said to her. To see her cousin in so much pain and not being able to do a damn thing about it had been the worst feeling in the world. Kelly had always been there for her in her time of need. It was only fair that she be there for Kelly, even if she didn't want her help.

Her moms had told her to leave Kelly alone, to let her sulk on her own, until the threat was dealt with. Kara had been adamant that Lori stay away from her cousin until everything was over. Lena on the other hand had been less vocal, something told Lori that Lena had more of an understanding what Kelly was currently struggling with. If Lori could just get Kelly to talk to Lena maybe things would be okay. Maybe her aunt Alex would let Kelly help with the case. The only problem was Kelly wasn't answering her texts or her calls. She knew Kelly was ignoring her, but this was to much. Sometimes her cousin could be completely dense.

Lori had waited for Lena to go back to her lab at L-Corp and for Kara to head to CatCo before she slipped out of the house. If she was lucky, she would be back before Kara returned home. She knew Lena would be spending the night at the lab. Which meant Kara wouldn't be in a great mood when she got home but Lori was willing to take that risk if it meant talking some sense into her cousin.

It didn't come as a surprise that Vasquez was the one to answer the door at Kelly's apartment. She knew that her aunt had sent Vasquez after Kelly to keep an eye on her, and it was already showing just how tired Vasquez was. The agent had been loyal to Alex throughout the years, becoming one of Alex's most trusted agents.

"What are you doing here little Danvers?" Vasquez quickly stepped out of the apartment, clearly not wanting Kelly to overhear. "I thought you went home."

"I want to talk to her," Lori said.

Vasquez rubbed the back of her neck, sparing a short glance over her shoulder at the door to the apartment. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said. "Kelly's not in the best shape right now." Lori knew what that meant, Kelly was definitely Alex's daughter, she always resorted to drinking when things just became to much. She didn't care, Kelly had to listen to her.

"Ten minutes, that's all I'm asking for," Lori wasn't above begging. She could easily overpower Vasquez if she really wanted to, but she didn't want to.

The woman in front of her didn't look like she wanted to argue. It was several long seconds before Vasquez's shoulders sagged. "Ten minutes, I'll go grab some dinner for myself, when I get back you need to be gone." Lori nodded with a smile. She knew Vasquez would see reason.

Lori entered the apartment seconds after Vasquez left. The couch was made up for someone to sleep on but other than that the apartment was almost the same as the last time she had been there. Her cousin was a bit of a neat freak, something she didn't share with either of her parents. Books were all arranged by size on the shelves, games were arranged in a way that made sense to Kelly but not to Lori. Pictures were scattered throughout the front room Most of Kelly with Alex and Maggie or the entire Superfriends family.

She made her way into the hall that lead back to Kelly's room. More photos lined the wall, some were crooked, probably from Kelly's drunk stumbling to her room. One of the frames had fallen to the ground. Lori stopped to pick it up, smiling when she realized which one it was. It was of Kelly in between both of her parents her arms around both of their shoulders, pulling them in close. All three of them were smiling, like they hadn't had a care in the world. Lori remembered the day it had been taken; it had been a month after Kelly had nearly died. Everyone had been so happy then. It made her wonder if things would have been different if it hadn't been Kelly that got sick.

Lori placed the frame back on the wall, giving it one last glance before heading to Kelly's room. She pushed the door open and was greeted by her cousin sprawled across her bed, a bottle of alien alcohol in one hand her phone in the other. Her shirt was torn, one shoe was still on her foot while the other was nowhere to be seen. The room reeked of alcohol, enough to make Lori gag. Kelly must have come straight home and started drinking for her to be this bad in only a few hours.

"Kelly?" Lori slowly entered the room. "You still alive?"

When her cousin didn't respond she poked her bare foot, knowing Kelly was extremely ticklish. Kelly groaned, rolling onto her stomach and pulling her foot away. Lori redoubled her efforts, jabbing Kelly in the ribs. This time her cousin yelped, sitting up on the bed, spilling alcohol all over herself.

"What the fuck?!" she shouted her words slurring. Upon seeing Lori her posture changed, her expression going from angry to annoyed. "Oh, it's you."

Not the reaction she was hoping for but at least Kelly wasn't attacking her. Kelly took a long swig from the bottle. "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"You should know by now I don't listen very well."

"Then let me make this clear," Kelly moved across the bed, planting her feet on the floor right in front of Lori. "I don't care what you have to say, I'm not some hero Lori, I proved that the other day with Donovan. You're not going to change that, so don't even try."

"I know you better than that," Lori said, her heart growing heavier in her chest. "I've always looked up to you, I'm not going to let one incident change that."

Kelly's nostrils flared in anger, she stood up, nearly falling over in the process, clearly to drunk to be standing. She shoved Lori back; she didn't move which seemed to annoy Kelly even more.

"Find someone else to look up to," she growled. "I want nothing to do with you."

Lori wasn't one to get angry easily. She had her mother's legendary patience. But much like Supergirl, Lori had her limits and Kelly had nailed them almost instantly. Without thinking Lori grabbed the bottle of alien alcohol from Kelly's hand and chucked it against the wall. The bottle shattered sending glass and liquid all over the room. Kelly stared in shock but had no time to process what had happened before Lori shoved her back so hard Kelly missed the bed completely, landing on the floor on the other side. Her cousin used the bed to prop herself up as she tried to recover from Lori's outburst.

"Do you know who expensive that shit is?" Kelly shouted. "I'm going to kill you for that."

"Please you can barely stand, you couldn't possibly beat me."

Kelly didn't even make it out from behind her bed before Lori was throwing her down to the ground. She fisted Kelly's torn shirt, lifting her upper body from the floor. Kelly's hands fell to the floor, all the fight suddenly leaving her. Lori could tell her cousin was close to breaking again. She hadn't been in any shape to argue and was so close to the edge she wondered if Kelly was planning on drinking herself into a coma.

"Just please Lori, go away," she muttered. "I fucked up, I don't deserve your respect or anything from you…I don't want any of it."

"Then you're dumber than I thought," Lori said letting her go. "We're Danvers right and we don't know when to quit. So, I'm not letting you quit. Lena wants to talk to you; I think she has something planned. So tomorrow you're going to work and you're going to talk to her."

"And if I don't?"

'Then I'm going to come back here and drag your ass over there."

"Watch your language."

Lori smiled, pushing herself off of Kelly only to hold out her hand to help her cousin up. Kelly took her hand, allowing Lori to lift her off the ground, she swayed from side to side, still drunk but her head wasn't as cloudy as before. Lori helped her sit back down on the bed.

"Vasquez only gave you ten minutes."

"You heard that?"

"Of course, I did, get out of here," Kelly said. "Go on."

"Just think about what I said."

Kelly nodded, laying back in her bed. She wasn't lying, she would consider what Lori said. It didn't mean she would do anything about it, but she would consider it. Maybe after she slept off her hangover. She didn't hear Lori leaving or Vasquez returning. She was already drifting into unconsciousness having been worn out by the sheer act of talking to her cousin.

XXXXX

Maggie pinned Alex to the mat, one knee in the center of her wife's chest and her hands pinning Alex's above her head. They had been going at it for hours. Brainy was working on tracing the money trail and had quickly dismissed Maggie saying something along the lines that she was in the way. Maggie hadn't exactly minded, but the way he had said it had annoyed her. She had taken the opportunity to find Alex, her hope had been to talk, but upon finding Alex in the training room she had realized that talking wasn't an option.

Alex fell into these moods where talking was impossible for her, even drinking didn't help ease the stress she was under. It was in those moments Alex fell back on one of two things, sex or as in this case, sparring. She would talk when she had worn herself out, and she wasn't there yet. Alex, ever flexible, somehow got one of her legs under Maggie's arm. She shoved her foot down causing Maggie to fall back, allowing Alex to get back to her feet.

"You've got to be getting tired Alex," Maggie said between breaths.

"Don't tell me you are." Alex lunged at her, catching her in the side.

Maggie didn't have the time to say that yes, she was getting tired. She was emotionally drained to the point that her body felt the fatigue. Unfortunately for her Alex still needed the distraction and with Kara elsewhere it fell on Maggie to take care of it. She would have much preferred to go home and handle this stress like they use to when they were younger. Alex's foot hooked under her leg, knocking her to the ground. She felt Alex's weight bare down on her a second later, pinning her to the floor.

"I give," Maggie breathed. "Alex I can't go any more."

Much to her surprise (and relief) Alex moved off of her before helping her to her feet. Her wife was breathing heavily but clearly not ready to call it quits. Maggie sighed, the situation was weighing on Alex more than she had originally thought.

"I'm sorry if I went to far," Alex muttered rubbing her shoulder.

"You didn't, don't worry," Maggie assured her. "I'm just tired Alex. You look tired to, maybe we should go home."

Alex shook her head at the suggestion. "To much work to be done, you go if you want, I want to work out a little long then get started on the plans for once we find Warden's hideout."

Maggie knew there was no arguing with Alex. Resigning herself to the realization she would be spending the night alone, Maggie kissed Alex's cheek, lingering longer than necessary hoping her wife would change her mind. When Alex turned away, heading towards the Salmon ladder, Maggie knew it was pointless. Alex was dead set on wearing herself down before she quit for the night. Maggie didn't exactly blame her; she would give anything to have Alex's willpower. With one last glance over her shoulder Maggie started out of the training room, her only goodbye that of wood against metal followed by Alex's grunts of exertion. It was going to be a long night.


	14. Chapter 14

**So this took until the last minute to write, I like it, it was fun, this one's a little different, had another flashback chapter, next chapter will be the same but with Alex and Maggie. After that we'll be in the endgame or more accurately close to it. Anyway thanks for reading, please review and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 14

Lena sighed, leaning further back in her desk chair. It was times like these that she got lost in her thoughts. She found her memories a good distraction from the current situation she found herself in. She had spent the entire night working on Kara's suit only to come up empty. Even with the DEO's assistance she hadn't been able to get past the wall had found herself pressed against. There was a part of the puzzle she was missing that she just couldn't figure out. She had forced herself to take a break in her office to give her a chance to clear her head before she went mad.

All she really wanted was to go home and sleep. She would have no such luxury until Warden and Donovan were arrested, if that was even possible. With Kelly having been completely sidelined the upcoming confrontation looked worse and worse for them. Part of her wished Alex would have been easier on Kelly; her daughter had only been acted on a primal fear of her father. The other part of her knew that Alex was right to keep Kelly away from the case. There was this darkness in Kelly that Lena knew all too well. Alex must have noticed it to, otherwise things may not have gone the way they had.

The darkness in herself had been deeply seeded in betrayal after Kara had lied to her for years. To find out the truth of her best friend, of the woman she loved, from her brother as he took his dying breaths. It had been to much for her back then, it had changed her, made her do things she had never thought herself capable of doing. She had been the good Luthor, the one who was nothing like her family. After than moment with Lex as he died in front of her she had been more like Lillian and her half-brother than she had ever wanted to be. It was because of that she knew what Kelly was struggling with, the conflict between doing the right thing and doing what she felt would tear her away from her family name, the only thing that could make her more than Kelly Donovan.

Kara had pulled Lena out of the darkness back then. Or, she had for the most part, the Crisis had a lot to do with how they changed. She had been angry, but not so angry that she was blind to the aid Alex needed to save the people of Earth-38. One moment they had thought everything would be alright, then the next there had been nothing. It had been weeks after things had been restored that Lena had learned what had really happened to her, learned what Kara had done to bring her back that her darkness started to recede.

_ Lena remembered helping Alex with the gate to start the evacuation of Earth-38 and then…nothing. One moment she had been there, the next she was gone. The next memory she had was of Kara rushing up to her, picked her up, tears streaming down her face thanking Rao that her family was alive. Or at least the majority was, she hadn't been able to bring back Argo City. _

_In the moment Lena had forgotten their fight, forgotten the betrayal, and hugged the Kryptonian back. Part of her was missing, but in that moment with Kara's strong arms around her, she felt grounded, felt almost whole. The moment was short lived, with Kara pulling away, wiping the tears away from her face as apologies slipped from her lips. Lena had stood there holding her arm, not knowing what to say. She wanted to forgive Kara, knowing that her former friend had sacrificed so much and only just barely managed to bring back her Earth. It wasn't that simple; Kara had betrayed her and that wasn't something she could forgive._

"_You don't owe me anything Lena," Kara said barely above a whisper. "You can go on hating me for the rest of your life. I deserve it, I know that after what I've done to you. Just know you are good; you are so much more than your last name and I hope you can find it in yourself to do something good with that."_

_ For months all Lena had heard from Kara was apology after apology as she begged for forgiveness. Lena had never expected Kara to give up on their friendship, but suddenly the blonde had lost all her fight. She was willing to accept Lena would never allow her back in, she was ready to live her life without Lena in it. It hurt more than Lena ever thought it would._

"_Kara…"_

_ She couldn't bare to meet the Kryptonian's gaze as she spoke her name, she knew if she did, she would break. "I don't think I have it in me to forgive you, but maybe…maybe you could fill me in on what just happened…"_

_ Kara nodded slowly before looking away. "I will, but I can't right now…not yet." There was a pain in her voice that Lena knew all to well. It wasn't that Kara didn't want to talk, it was that she couldn't, the pain of whatever had happened holding her back. Lena accepted that it would take time before Kara could openly talk to her about what happened. _

"_You know where to find me Kara," Lena said. "You take care of whatever you need too. I can wait."_

"_I won't make you wait too long," Kara said with a loud sigh. "I've made that mistake before."_

_ Lena watched as Kara took off, heading for what she assumed would be the DEO. She could only imagine how Kara was feeling just then, after losing Krypton for the second time with Argo City having been destroyed. Her heart went out to the blonde, no matter how angry she was she didn't think Kara deserved to lose her family for the second time. No one deserved that, no matter what they had done._

_ It was a week later before Lena saw Kara again. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't been sleeping at all over the last seven days. Lena stood aside, letting the blonde into her apartment. Kara moved without the certainty she usually had, she hesitated as she moved towards the kitchen as if she didn't belong there. Maybe she didn't, it was to soon for Lena to know for sure if she really wanted Kara there or not. _

"_I'm sorry it took me so long to come here," Kara said stopping in the threshold that separated the kitchen from the living room. "Alex needed my help, the city is in complete chaos, but I'm sure you knew that."_

"_The world did just end, everyone is going to be a bit on edge for a while," Lena said, joining Kara in the kitchen. _

"_Not everyone knows what happened," Kara admitted. "There is a hole in their memories when they were erased, but you know that. The only reason you know what really happened is because of my sister."_

_ Kara fell silent, she was having trouble admitting it, but she felt uncomfortable being there. She had realized during the Crisis that her friendship with Lena would never be fixed. Watching her planet die had broken her but bringing it back had only strengthened her resolve to let Lena go. Neither of them would move on if she didn't let her go._

"_Why don't you tell me," Lena offered, taking Kara's hand after a moment of hesitation. "Don't spare any details."_

_ Kara let herself be led over to the couch. As soon as she began to speak, she couldn't find it in herself to stop. She told Lena everything, from Earth-2, to watching Argo disintegrate to losing Oliver. She retold everything that she remembered down to the fight with the Monitor, taking the book back and reversing all the destruction, or almost all of it. They couldn't bring Argo back, or Oliver or countless other lives they had lost. Kara, like always, was shouldering the guilt and blame for the events of the Crisis. Lena sat listening as Kara recounted the events wishing she had done more to help but knowing that there as nothing else that she could have done._

_ Lena watched Kara as she finally broke down, unable to hold back the tears that had been threatening to spill since they sat down. Instinct took over as Lena moved to wrap her arms around the Kryptonian. She cried into Lena's shoulder for what seemed like hours. Lena never let her go, all the pain and betrayal forgotten for the time being. As they sat there, holding each other Lena realized that things may never be the same between them, but in time they would be alright. _

Back then things had moved so slowly, it took them months to get back to a semblance of where they had been before Lex's death. Once they got back to that point their relationship started to change quickly. They went from enemies to friends to girlfriends in a little over a year. Kara had proposed not long after Alex had adopted Kelly, much to Lena's surprise. Things had always been a little difficult between the two of them but after the Crisis they knew they could get through anything together.

"_Darling please settle down you're going to give yourself an aneurysm," Lena said with a sigh._

_ This had been going on for almost an hour now. Kara had come home from the DEO all red faced and annoyed. She had immediately started to rant to Lena about her sister's poor decision making. Lena had agreed Alex made bad decisions more often than not she didn't exactly agree with Kara once she figured out what her fiancée was actually talking about. _

"_What gives Maggie the right to waltz back into Alex's life?" Kara threw her hands up in exasperation. "She was the one who left in the first place."_

"_If I recall correctly, and I know that I do, Alex was the one who broke it off, not Maggie," Lena was getting tired of the conversation. She just wanted to go to dinner._

"_Yeah because Maggie didn't want kids," Kara was starting to pace again. "Which Alex now has."_

"_People change."_

"_But…" Kara collapsed onto the bed unable to come up with any form of argument. "I don't want Alex to get hurt again. It took her months to get over Maggie. What if it happens again? What happens to Kelly? How will it affect her?"_

_ Lena laid back with Kara, putting her hand on the Kryptonian's chest feeling her heart beat rapidly. Kara would get worked up over the strangest things. She had to admit that Alex and Maggie were moving fast for two people who hadn't seen each other for the better part of three years. She figured it was because they had already done all the song and dance when they were first together and didn't feel like doing it all over. Things had changed and they had accepted those changes and had decided to go forward with their relationship. Kelly seemed to be happy about it too. Lena could tell the first time she saw Maggie with Kelly that Maggie would be a good mom to Kelly, even if she originally hadn't wanted the job. Kara was having a hard time getting past how the breakup had affected Alex._

"_You worry too much," Lena said after a while. "They're adults they will figure it out. Now as your fiancée I demand we leave for dinner because I am starving."_

"_Can't we just eat in? I can get Noonan's." _

_ The glare she earned from Lena made it clear that the suggestion was not an option. Kara had promised to take her out and she was going to hold the Super to her promise. They did this every single time they had planned to go out. Kara was one who preferred to stay in and have a quiet evening at home. Lena, though she enjoyed those nights they stayed home, enjoyed being out around people, especially when she was out with Kara. It was her silent way of bragging that National City's most renowned reporter had picked her over anyone else. Kara never fully understood why Lena would need that kind of affirmation, but she knew it made Lena happy so she usually went along with it._

"_Give me two minutes to get dress," she said peeling herself away from Lena's side._

"_You have one," Lena challenged with a smile. _

_ It only took them half an hour to get to the restaurant, Kara having stopped to pin Lena against a wall, kissing her breathless on more than one occasion. Once they actually got their dinner Kara had fallen into an unusual silence. Lena knew she was still stuck on what was happening with her sister and Maggie but she wasn't about to let it become the central topic of one of their few nights out. Every conversation she tried to start with Kara faded quickly as Kara's mind wondered off._

"_Kara could you please stay with me for more than two minutes," Lena asked as Kara pushed a piece of kale around her plate. "I know you're worried about your sister but she knows what she's doing."_

_ It was then that Kara set her fork down, eyes looked everywhere but at Lena. "I have a question," she said keeping her focus on something behind Lena. "Do you want kids?" The question caught Lena completely by surprise, so much so she nearly choked on her wine. It wasn't that they hadn't talked about it before, because they had, they hadn't wanted to make the same mistake that Alex and Maggie had when they first got engaged. It was that it was so out of the blue that it had Lena's head spinning. _

"_You know that I do, eventually," Lena couldn't hide her confusion from her voice. "Where is this coming from Kara? What's going on?"_

_ Kara shrugged. "Alex is always rushing into things, she didn't even think when it came to adopting Kelly… I just don't want to be making the same mistakes." Lena smiled at the confession. The bond between Alex and Kara was strong but Kara wanted to be better. She had already lost Lena once, she didn't want to lose her again over something the two of them could easily talk about. Not talking had been the end of their friendship once. Kara would hate to lose her again because she kept quiet about something._

"_I was thinking Kara," Lena started, wanting to save the rest of Kara's conversation for when they were at home. "I know you have a responsibility to the city, but you haven't had a break in over a month. What if we took a couple of days out of the city, just the two of us?"_

_ She didn't think Kara would even entertain her idea. One thing she loved about Kara (and that she hadn't known she loved about Supergirl for the longest time) was how dedicated to National City she was, both as a reporter and as it hero. Being with her allowed Lena to see how much her role as the city's hero effected the Kryptonian. She knew how important every single life Kara saved was to her. It wasn't in her blood to walk away, even if it was to care for herself. Kara never put herself first, but she always tried to put Lena first._

"_Is that what you want?"_

"_Only if you're willing to take a break," Lena said. "I think you should take a break, but if you don't want to I won't make you."_

_ Lena reached across the table, taking Kara's hand in hers. "I know you have a responsibility here and I don't want you to ever think I don't understand that." It was Kara's turn to smile at her. _

"_Have you ever been camping?" Kara asked her grin growing._

"_I can't say that I have," Lena said after hesitating._

"_We should go camping," Kara said with so much enthusiasm Lena started to wonder how she ever said no to the blonde. "If there is something Alex can't handle she can always call me back. What do you say?"_

_ Kara seemed excited about the possibility of camping with Lena in the middle of (what Lena assumed was) nowhere. She knew Kara had gone camping with Alex and Eliza on multiple occasions when she was younger but in recent years (since starting her job at CatCo) she hadn't been able to go. Though it wasn't exactly what Lena had in mind, it would be perfect for the two of them, it would be quiet which is all Lena really wanted. _

"_I'd love th-"_

_ Lena was cut off by an explosion somewhere in the distance. Kara was on her feet in an instant. Lena wasn't far behind her, having gotten into the habit of staying near Kara in the face of any sort of danger. Together they made their way outside of the restaurant with several other patrons that chose not to run away in fear of whatever was happening. Outside they were greeted by rising smoke as flames raged through a building down the street. Lena knew Kara needed to go. She could hear people shouting for help, whatever had caused the fire needed as much attention as the people trapped by the fire. Kara could be there faster than the fire department._

"_I'm sorry," Kara said immediately as she pulled Lena away from the growing crowd._

"_Don't be," Lena assured her with a smile. "Now go, they need you Supergirl."_

_ Out of the way of any watchful eyes Kara removed her glasses in true Supergirl fashion. The nanotech slowly expanded from her hand, crawling over her body until the suit was fully there. Lena had to give it to Brainy for his ingenuity in creating the new suit, though she was sure she could have done just as well. She did miss the skirt Kara use to wear but she knew her super was much happier with the pants._

_ Lena stopped Kara just before she took off, pulling her close for a deep kiss. She knew Kara would come back to her but she always made sure to kiss her just in case Kara didn't come back. The Super smiled at her as they pulled apart, one last assurance before she threw herself in the face of danger. Lena remained in the alley watching the love of her life fly off towards the emergency, unable to keep a smile from her face._

Over the years Lena had gotten used to seeing Kara off during emergencies. Every time Kara fought some giant purple alien or assisted in the takedown of Children of Liberty sympathizers Lena could help but feel proud. She was married to National City's most revered and loved hero and no one truly knew. That's what made the situation so difficult for her. Kara being unable to do her job and protect the city was one of the worst things that could happen to Kara. It made her feel useless and in effect Lena felt completely at a loss being unable to help.

She knew what she had to do. There was only one way she could figure out what her new suit was missing and that was to get Kelly to provide the data she needed to understand how the Photokinesis worked against Kara. Alex had made it very clear that Kelly was to have nothing to do with the Warden situation, but at this point Lena didn't care what her sister-in-law had said. The only way to protect Kara was with Kelly's help, and Lena would be damned to let her wife suffer because Alex was too damn stubborn.

Standing firm in her resolve Lena picked up her phone to call the front desk. "When Kelly comes in for her shift send her to my office, she and I need to speak." She hung up before the woman on the other end of the line could respond. This was how things had to go. She only hoped Alex could forgive her afterwards. She really hated fighting with a Danvers, it was light arguing with a wall. For Kara, and for her family, it was worth it. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Quick confession I didn't actually see the Crisis cross over until I was halfway done with the chapter, it has no real effect on it, but I know I mentioned it a lot last chapter. In any case next chapter might be delayed by a day or two. I'm working a lot and barely have time to write. We're getting down to it now. Next chapter we will finally be back to the present so enjoy this Sanvers flashback chapter. Thanks for reading, tell me what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 15

Alex sat at her desk in her office, cellphone in hand finger hovering over Kelly Olsen's name. She hadn't spoken to her ex in over four years, though Olsen made it very clear that she was always there for Alex both as a friend and as a doctor. Alex knew she needed to talk to someone, she hated shrinks but Olsen was different, and her methods for helping people suffering from PTSD were revolutionary. She wouldn't judge Alex for asking for help, but Alex wasn't sure calling her ex (even if they were still good friends) was the best idea. She could just go to the department shrink, it would have the same results.

Then again she knew she would never talk to someone she didn't know very well. As much as she wanted to sit down with Maggie and just talk about everything that was wrong she knew she couldn't put that all on her wife. At least with Olsen she wouldn't feel guilty, it was her job after all to help and listen, and even though Alex wasn't suffering from PTSD (she actually was but that wasn't what was at the root of her problems at the moment) Olsen had told her it was alright for her to reach out to her if she needed.

She set her phone aside, leaning farther back in her chair. She didn't want to bother Olsen with something she could deal with on her own, or with Maggie. Once everything was over she would consider going to therapy. Truth was all three of the Sawyer-Danvers family needed therapy. Maggie was the most mentally healthy of the three, Kelly was slowly getting worse and her drinking was starting to resemble Alex's when she was in college. Alex was just struggling to keep her family safe, it was starting to wear her down to the point she thought she may have to step down for a while.

Things had never been easy for them. Kelly had taken a long time to adjust to her new situation when she came to live with Alex. It hadn't been very long after that (a mere six months if she was remembering correctly) Maggie had come back into her life which was a learning curve for all of them. Suddenly Maggie and Alex had been back in their old patterns, but with Kelly in the mix it brought a whole other dynamic, one that Maggie slipped into easily, but Alex initially struggled with. It wasn't that she didn't want Maggie back it was just after more than two years without her it wasn't easy to let her back in.

_ Kelly had been extremely excited once she learned it had rained and had all but begged Alex to go outside so she could jump into puddles. Alex couldn't say no to her, it had been a rough couple of months and Kelly was slowly starting to get use to Alex being her mom. She still disliked any kind of physical contact. This had been one of the few times she grabbed Alex's hand on her own free will and with excitement instead of fear._

"_Can we, please?"_

"_Sure," Alex said with a smile. "Go get your boots and jacket."_

_ Alex watched Kelly scurry off to get ready. She loved that girl with all of her heart and seeing her wanting to actively do something with Alex without being forced to. They still had a lot of work to do but this was progress and Alex was happy with it, any progress was better than no progress. Kelly came running out minutes later in blue rain boots and a rain jacket her aunt Kara had given her not long after she came to live with Alex._

"_Ready kiddo?"_

_ Kelly grabbed her hand, all but dragging her to the apartment door. "Yep!" Alex smiled allowing herself to be lead down the hallway to the elevator. She let Kelly press the buttons, knowing the girl got enjoyment out of it. Sometime it surprised her how different the girl holding her hand was from the one Alex had coaxed out of a small closet months ago._

_ It was still sprinkling outside but it was nowhere near the downpour it had been earlier. Kelly released her hand once they started walking, ending up ahead of Alex so she could splash in the puddles without getting Alex too wet. Alex let her go ahead within reason, just happy that Kelly was enjoying herself without hesitation. She had figured they would go to the park that way Kelly could run around for a while before they headed back. It wasn't a long walk from her apartment and the second they reached the park Kelly was off giggling to herself as she went from puddle to puddle. _

_ Alex followed silently with a smile, not very aware of her surroundings outside of where Kelly was off too. She was so focused on Kelly she didn't see the woman walking her direction until she ran into her nearly causing her to fall. The woman caught her, a strong hand wrapping around her arm. Alex looked up her apology already forming on her lips. She didn't get any further than that._

"_Long time Danvers," Maggie said pulling her back to a standing position. "I'm flattered you're still falling for me."_

_ Her face was burning, she hadn't seen Maggie since she left National City, and for her to be there, inches away from Alex was almost too much. She was glad Kelly had seemed to take notice of her absence and had stopped moving away from them. Alex noticed that Kelly was staring at Maggie curiously with the same hesitation she had originally had with Alex._

"_I-I um…" Alex shook her head trying to collect her thoughts. "What are you doing back?"_

"_There are a lot of reasons," Maggie admitted. "I heard they were having trouble with the Science division, figured I should come back and get it back on the right track."_

"_We could use someone from the NCPD as a liaison with the DEO again," Alex said already falling back into easily talking shop with Maggie. "We've been butting heads more and more."_

_ Maggie grinned, clearly open to negotiations. There was something else there, behind her smile that Alex knew all too well but wasn't sure if she should mention it. They hadn't been together for years, she shouldn't get her hopes up. Maggie seemed to notice Alex's hesitation because she turned to face Kelly who was still standing in an ankle deep puddle watching the two of them._

"_You ever going to introduce me Alex?"_

"_Right, sure," Alex said with a nod. "Kel, hey come here for a sec I want to introduce you to someone." _

_ Kelly slowly walked over to them, positioning herself behind Alex's leg suddenly (but not surprisingly) very shy. Alex smiled down at her, trying to reassure her it was alright before kneeling down next to her._

"_Kelly this is Maggie, a really good friend of mine." She glanced up at Maggie, a small smile playing on her lips. "Maggie this is Kelly, my daughter."_

_ Maggie didn't attempt to reach out or kneel down, realizing that Kelly was afraid of her, or at the very least unsure of what to make of the stranger. She did smile, a genuine smile Alex hadn't seen in a long time. Something about it was enough to get Kelly to muster a very quiet hi._

"_It's nice to meet you Kelly," she said._

_ There was a silence between the three of them. Kelly was nervous around new people, she would barely talk to Lena but with Kara was open and always super excited to spend time with her (probably having something to do with the fact Kara was Supergirl and Kelly knew it). She would warm up to Maggie eventually, she was still getting use to Alex._

"_It's alright, we'll keep walking if you want," Alex said when Kelly tugged on her jacket._

_ Kelly nodded taking her time to launch herself into on puddle to the next. Maggie offered her hand to help Alex back to her feet, the two of them starting off after Kelly. Alex had never thought that seeing Maggie again would be like this. There had been so much time that had passed, so much had changed since they had last seen on another. She thought their first run in would be difficult (then again she never thought she would see Maggie again). As it turned out they easily fell back into it like nothing had ever happened. There were dozens of explanations for the way Maggie was acting, Alex wasn't sure if she wanted to know where this would lead._

"_So…I'm curious," Maggie started, "Kelly, is um…adopted, I take it the circumstances weren't great?"_

"_Observant as ever," Alex chuckled. "Cadmus raid. We were arresting one of their members, found her, and after what happened with the Children of Liberty both alien and meta-human kids have trouble getting adopted. I didn't really have a choice. Not that I would have done anything differently."_

"_Of course not, you are the most selfless person I know," Maggie said. "She's lucky to have you."_

"_I'm lucky too," Alex said. "And now you're back, maybe the universe doesn't hate me as much as I thought."_

_ Kelly chose that moment to launch herself in a puddle that resulted in both Maggie and Alex getting wet. Maggie couldn't stop herself from laughing at Alex for the miserable look that crossed her face, she had hated water since the time she nearly drowned. One thing she noticed was that Alex didn't show her annoyance to Kelly she didn't let the girl know that she wasn't having fun getting wet herself._

"_So does that mean if I ask for you to get coffee with me, you'll say yes?"_

"_How could I ever say no?"_

_ Maggie smiled nudging Alex with her shoulder. "You can't that's my point," she joked proud that she could still make Alex laugh. _

_ After that the two fell into a comfortable silence as they followed behind Kelly. The silence lasted for over an hour until Kelly started getting tired and asked Alex to go home. Alex wasn't exactly ready to say her goodbyes to Maggie again but this time she knew she would be seeing her again fairly soon._

"_See you around Danvers," Maggie said leaning in to kiss Alex's cheek. "I'll try not to be a stranger this time around."_

"_You know where to find me," Alex said. "Let me know when you want to get coffee."_

_ Maggie nodded. Some things hadn't changed at all in the last few years and for that Alex was grateful. She stood with Kelly as Maggie walked away. The last time Maggie had left both of them had been crying, hearts breaking. It had been the worst day of her life. This time, watching Maggie leave she knew it wouldn't be forever, they would see each other soon. Maggie wanted to be back in her life and as hesitant as she was to let that happen again, Alex would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't happy to have Maggie back. Maybe things would be alright between them after all._

Alex rubbed her eyes. She shouldn't be putting this off, it was just Kelly Olsen, a woman she knew and had loved for over a year. Olsen was her friend and had offered her help should Alex ever need it. And boy did Alex need it. Swallowing her fear she dialed her ex's number. It rang a couple of times before a familiar voice came over the speaker.

"This is Kelly," she said.

"Hey, sorry to call you out of the blue Olsen but I need a favor," Alex said wanting to skip over any small talk.

"Of course Alex," she replied. "Whatever you need."

Alex sighed. She turned so her back was towards the door. She knew no one would overhear her but she felt better with the solid black wall in front of her. Her biggest downfall had been the inability to talk about her feelings. Maggie had always coaxed her into talking and Olsen had done so even more. But in that period of time where Alex had been by herself taking care of a scared four year old she had fallen back on her old habit of keeping things completely locked away inside of her. Though she had made progress to get back to where she had been beforehand she was still a long way from healed.

"I need to talk to you, things haven't been great recently. I can't get into details, at least not yet, but it's starting to take its toll on me."

"My door is always open to you Alex, I have time tomorrow if that works for you?"

"No, it'll have to wait until we've closed the case we're currently working on," Alex said. "The second it's done I'll come by."

There was a long silence between them one Alex recognized as Olsen trying to work through something in her head.

"Everything is okay with you and Maggie?"

Alex let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Of course Kelly would go straight to that, she would never assume it was a problem between Alex and her daughter.

"We're fine. It has to do with Kel and a situation that just keeps getting worse," Alex said, knowing it was saying too much. "Like I said I'll fill you in once everything is no longer classified."

"I hope you do," Olsen said, Alex could hear her smile. "I have to go, I have an appointment soon. If you need anything, just call that goes for your daughter and Maggie as well. Take care Alex."

"You to Kelly," Alex said hanging up the phone.

Alex moved back to her desk, propping her feet on the top of it. She sunk further back into her chair, closing her eyes. If she was lucky she could get a nap in before anyone came to find her to tell her they had a lead. She hadn't been sleeping well and no matter how much Maggie tried she wasn't able to help Alex. One thing she had discovered after years as the Director of the DEO was that whenever she needed to get twenty minutes in shutting herself in her office was the best way to do it. She always managed to fall asleep in her desk chair, it usually left her feeling better, even if her neck hurt afterwards.

She let herself push everything out of her mind to focus on a singular thought. Something that didn't give her any stress and left her somewhat at peace. Slowly she began to drift off, part of her wishing she could fall asleep this easily in her own bed.

_ It was their first Thanksgiving together as an entire family. Their first time having the holiday at Kara and Lena's very large, very expensive pent house. Their first holiday with the Lena and Kara's daughter, Lori. And the first one since Maggie legally became Kelly's second adoptive mother. Alex was enjoying the moment, a temporary peace from the absolute mayhem her life usually was._

_ Maggie, true to her old self, was doing her damnedest to avoid holding Lori. She liked babies, they were cute but she didn't want to hold them. She felt uncomfortable with them, once they hit three or four, piece of cake, any younger and she basically ran. Alex was proud of her though, she had become a great mom to Kelly, having a deep bond with the girl Alex couldn't begin to understand. After their initial meeting Kelly had warmed up to Maggie almost immediately. She was basically hanging off of Maggie at the moment, not sure how to react to the newest addition to the ever growing Danvers family._

"_Hey babe I left the beer in the car, I'm going to run down and get it," Maggie said._

"_I'll come with you," Alex said. "Kel think you'll be okay with Grandpa J'onn?"_

_ J'onn was in the living room with Kara and the rest. When he heard his name spoken he smiled over towards Kelly motioning to her to come join him. Alex was grateful for him. She knew he missed his people greatly, and his family even more so. But he had gladly fallen into the role of father figure to Alex and Kara as well as a grandfather for the two kids. Alex knew it was because he would never have grandkids of his own. She was just glad that he had made a family with them. He was a good man and deserved happiness._

_ Kelly went straight over to him, allowing him to lift her into his lap. Alex caught a glimpse of Maggie smiling. They had worked so hard to get Kelly comfortable with people and physical contact. She still shied away from it occasionally but most of the time she was okay with it. She'd come so far in the two years she had been with Alex and both of them were proud of her progress._

_ Alex allowed herself to be lead out of the apartment by Maggie, taking it slow as they headed down the hall way. Maggie took her hand, having always loved contact with Alex of any kind. Kelly was at the age she found their interactions gross, which lead Maggie to be more reserved when she was around. But in the privacy of the hallway those reservations went away._

"_You didn't actually leave anything in the car did you?" Alex said when they reached the elevator._

"_No, to be honest I just needed a minute," Maggie admitted. "Besides I think Kelly is doing fairly well. Ten minutes without us isn't going to be a problem."_

_ Noticing her wife's concerned look Maggie smiled pulling Alex closer to her so she could wrap her arm around the taller woman's waist. "I was just getting overwhelmed." The elevator stopped allowing them to step off. Together they walked out of the lobby onto the sidewalk outside of the complex. Their car wasn't parked too far away and even though Maggie didn't actually need to grab anything from it she started towards it anyway._

"_I'm proud of you Maggie, I don't know if I've said that to you lately," Alex said when they reached the car. _

"_Flattery Alex?" Maggie said with a smirk. "You're either after something or did something bad."_

"_Can't I just be proud of my wife?" Alex closed the distance between them pinning Maggie against the car. _

"_I love you," Maggie said reaching up to pull Alex down for a deep kiss._

_ They stayed like that for a moment that dragged on. Small moments like this were moments they loved to share. Sometimes it was difficult to steal a moment for themselves with Kelly but the moments they could they treasured. Though Alex had to say that this moment was a little cold compared to the others. November wind was cutting through their jackets, and the coolness of the car was getting to Maggie._

"_I think outside was a bad idea," Alex said stepping away from Maggie. "It's freezing."_

"_It was, and we are definitely going back inside, in a minute," Maggie said. "I actually did need to check the car for something."_

_ Alex looked confused but Maggie ignored it opening the back of her car and digging under the front seat. She could feel Alex's eyes on her giving her reason to smirk. Her wife was less than subtle but she wasn't complaining. _

"_What are you looking for?" Alex was closer now, peering over Maggie's back._

_ Maggie let out a small noise of triumph when her hand passed over what she was looking for. She straightened up, nearly colliding with Alex, the small stuffed animal in her hand. Alex looked between her wife and the toy in disbelief. That was why they were freezing their asses off._

"_Kelly said something about Mr. Snippy having disappeared," Maggie said clearly proud of herself. She handed the stuffed scorpion to Alex. "I figured he was in the car."_

_ Alex burst into a fit of laughter, slinging her arm around Maggie's shoulders. In all her life she never thought she would be here. She had never imagined she and Maggie would be married with a daughter and happy. She had given up on that years ago. But in some turn of fate Maggie came back and she stayed. She stayed and was helping Alex raise Kelly and it was all Alex could have asked for._

Alex was jolted out of her nap by her office door being thrown open. She sat up, keeping her feet on her desk, just about ready to kill whoever had just woken her up. What she found was Brainy standing just inside her office, having not bothered to knock. An annoying tendency he had never gotten over.

"Director," he paused noticing that he had disturbed her. "I apologize, but we found who wired the money to Mr. Marrison."

She dropped her feet to the floor so she could reach across her desk to take the file Brainy held out to her. "Let's hear it."

"You are not going to like what was found," he didn't bother to elaborate further.

That was what concerned Alex. Usually when they found a lead Brainy wouldn't be able to shut up about it. This time he was quiet apparently wanting Alex to see for herself. She skimmed over the pages in the file, her jaw tightening after each line she read. No she didn't like this at all.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Alex shut the file, tossing it hap hazardously onto her desk. "Are you positive about this?"

Brainy nodded, "it is unfortunate, but accurate information."

Alex cursed under her breath. This was not good, in fact this was probably the worst news she could have gotten.

"This changes things," she said rising from her desk. "For now this stays between you and me. I want to be on top of this. We have no idea how deep this corruption goes."

"What are you going to do?"

Alex set her jaw. She would have to go about this carefully. Their government was involved in this. She hoped it was only the one person, if it went any further they would be in the same mess they were with Lockwood. Her only option was to make the call and nip this at the bud before it got any worse.

"I'm going to make a call," she said. "Did you get a location on where Warden might be hiding?"

"We did, and old steel factory just outside of the city."

"Get a strike team together," Alex said. "I want them ready in an hour, it's time we take the fight to them."

"Right away," he said leaving her so he could carry out her orders.

She moved with a new found purpose. This was the first time since all of this started that they had gotten a lead. She wasn't about to let this opportunity pass. Warden would pay for the suffering she had put her family through, Alex would make sure of that.


	16. Chapter 16

**A lot of back and forth with this chapter. Next chapter is where stuff really begins to pick up. I managed to finish this chapter on time, no idea if I'll be able to do the same with the next chapter. In any case I'm happy with how this chapter turned out and I hope everyone reading enjoys it. So like I always say, thanks for reading, let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 16

Kelly was sore, and hungover, two things that didn't mix well with work. It hadn't hurt at the time but Lori shoving her had been really painful. She'd forgotten just how strong her cousin was and was wishing she had never pissed her off. Then again Lori should have never been at her apartment. She should have just left well enough alone. Kelly could barely remember the conversation they had had. By the time Lori had shown up she had already been halfway through a bottle of alien liquor, far to intoxicated to be functioning at all. Part of her wished she had stayed home, she was in no shape to be working.

Any thought of leaving was quickly thrown away when the receptionist approached her. Informing her that Lena wanted to see her immediately. She didn't argue, speaking to Lena would be better than sitting behind a desk all day. The elevator jerked slightly as it began its ascent, it hadn't worked very well for over a year, but every time Lena was about to get it fixed something happened. Kelly was tempted to do the repair herself, the lurching always made her stomach twist. It was a short trip to the top floor. The doors opened into a small area where Lena's assistant Jesse sat. She regarded Kelly with little interest waving her towards the office.

_Well at least Kara isn't here._ Kelly thought pushing open the office door. Lena was behind her desk, typing away at her computer, probably working on some kind of business deal. She never really understood her aunt. She was a smart business woman, a brilliant scientist and one of the most caring and dedicated women in the world. She had the world in the palm of her hand and yet she sat behind her desk, developing prototypes for some other scientist to build instead of doing it herself. She did do a lot of building and research for the DEO as their only outside consultant, so the hands off approach she had to L-Corps science prospects made sense to a degree.

"Good, you're here," Lena said not bothering to look up from her work. "Feeling any better?"

"Besides the throbbing headache I'm great." It was only the partial truth, her head was pounding, but she still felt horrible. Not physically, just emotionally.

"Take a seat," she said. "I'll be a minute I need to finish approving these schematics."

"Schematics for what?" Kelly was genuinely curious, some of the things L-Corp worked on were revolutionary.

Lena smiled behind the screen of her computer. "It's a prototype that hasn't been made public yet, unfortunately even though you are family and an employee of L-Corp, you are still general public."

"Ouch," Kelly feigned hurt, she knew there were restrictions Lena had to follow and it really didn't bother her.

She went over to the couch, realized she probably didn't want to sit there. Instead she sat in the chair next to it. She didn't think it would be much better (knowing how her aunts were, no place in this office was sacred). Lena was absorbed in whatever was on her computer screen, not paying any attention to her. Kelly almost felt like she was in the principal's office. A feeling she hadn't had for years (she had spent quite a lot of time in the principal's office because of fights. She hadn't started any of them, but she always finished them). It was almost worse than that though. Kelly admired Lena for multiple reasons, and any inkling that she could be in trouble with the woman she looked up to was terrifying.

The silence was filled with nothing more than the clicking of a keyboard. Kelly watched passed Lena to the balcony outside (a balcony she learned Lena had specifically added _after _she met Supergirl). It had been a convenience thing, to allow Supergirl to come by unannounced at any time. Kelly had launched herself off of it a few times, free falling towards the ground before taking off towards the sky. It had felt so amazing the first time she had done it, the absolute rush of adrenaline. She missed that feeling. She rarely got it anymore. Her blood didn't rush through her body like it had when she first picked up the name of Flare.

Lena stirred from her desk, breaking Kelly from her thoughts. She watched her aunt walk over to her liquor cabinet.

"So why did you want to see me?" Kelly watched her pour herself a glass of scotch.

_Strange…_ she thought, _it's a little early for that isn't it?_ She sighed outwardly. Perhaps she should have no opinion on the matter. Yesterday she had started drinking at ten in the morning. Lena was clearly more comfortable with a glass in her hand. Kelly figured it was almost like a power thing for her.

Lena turned to face her. "Do you know anything about Myriad?"

It was a strange question to start with. "It was a weapon, mind control I think, created by Kryptonians and was used to enslave the people of National City by Non a long time ago." She had read the file on it once. There had been something about it being stolen from the Fortress of Solitude but all of that information had been redacted.

Her aunt seemed to accept the response. She moved to the couch, setting her glass aside.

"There was a period of time where I chose a path that was wrong, at the expense of who I was," she started. "At the time I thought what I was doing was the right thing. As it turned out, I was just as horrible as Lex."

"Bullshit," Kelly said. Lena was the best of them, the good Luthor, Kelly knew that, the whole city knew that. "You've always been the good one."

Lena smiled, but Kelly could see the sadness behind it. She knew there was a lot she didn't know about her aunts – hell even her own parents had secrets. There would always be things she didn't know. But her aunt – Lena Luthor – being the bad guy? It didn't sit right with her.

"I wish that were true," Lena said. "But Kara betrayed me once and in return I betrayed her."

"What did you do?" Kelly couldn't believe it, her aunts had the strongest relationship out of all of them.

With a sigh Lena looked her dead in the eye and said, "I stole Myriad with the intent to use it."

XXXXX

Alex hadn't been in in full tactical gear in years. She avoided it as much as possible, it gave agents the idea that maybe she would go back into the field. At one point in time she may have considered it. Now though she was comfortable running things from behind a screen. Today though she needed to be there with her agents. She had two teams with her, her two best teams in fact. Bravo team was led by Vasquez, who didn't spend much time in the field, but Alex trusted her more than anyone.

"Keep it tight, I want a thorough search, understood?"

Every single agent replied with the affirmative. Bravo team broke off heading left towards the back of the steel factory. Alpha team, with Alex in the lead, moved towards the front. Initial data from the building showed that it was empty, but Alex wasn't about to send people in without searching it first. Warden could have left traps behind, rigged the place to explode. There were hundreds of possibilities. None of which bode well for them.

"Vasquez, report."

"Nothing so far ma'am, looks deserted." Vasquez said. "Maybe they knew we were coming."

_Of course they did, that goddamned traitor, he knew we're on to him._ Anger rose in her chest, one step behind, they had always been one step behind. "Finish clearing the building. Search for anything left behind. We are not leaving empty handed." Alex followed her own advice, continuing to search through the building. She could see Vasquez and her team moving down the catwalks above. Her own team was split up on the ground floor, moving slowly around the decrepit machinery. To her it looked like no one had been there in years, maybe Brainy was wrong. Maybe they hadn't been here.

"Director I think I've got something," one of her agents shouted from an adjacent room.

Alex stopped her pattern, moving instead towards her agent. Something was better than nothing she had to keep reminding herself of that. She lowered her gun as she went, it was empty, just her agents populated the building.

Her hastiness to find something was about to cost her. She felt it before she heard it. A wire pressed up against her shin followed by a distinct click. The agent near her heard it to, his eyes suddenly wide with fear.

"Everyone get down! Bomb!"

She dove back, hoping for some miracle, hoping no one would get hurt. Next thing she knew, heat was on her back and fire was surrounding her.

XXXXX

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Kelly had been through the DEO and the NCPD files (the ones she could get a hold of) dozens of times. She wanted to learn about the cases and the people her parents had put away. Learning that her aunt, a woman she looked up to, had actually been on the other side of the fight was shattering. She had always seen Lena as a woman who wasn't defined by her family name, she wasn't like the Luthor's. And yet, when it came down to it, she was still a Luthor. There was something she didn't understand.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Lena shifted so she was facing her niece. She hadn't told anyone about Myriad in years. Not even Lori had been told about it. Kara and she had decided it best she never knew. She was confident Kelly wouldn't say anything to Lori either. Still Kelly was right, why had she told her about Myriad?

"Because I know how you feel," she replied. "We both acted in a way we felt was right. But just because we think we are doing the right thing, it doesn't mean that it is."

Kelly should have known this was about Donovan. Why else would Lena tell her about Myriad, something that had been buried beneath dozens of black lines? Apparently Lena knew everything about what had happened that night, how Kelly had almost beat her father to death. She probably knew exactly what Kelly was struggling with.

"Lex had a twisted view on the world, Kara, Clark and he died for it," Lena continued. "His rage and hatred lead him to his death. Don't let your own rage control you Kelly."

Kelly smiled, "you sound like my mom."

"Well Alex is a smart woman," Lena said smiling herself, "Even if we don't always agree with one another."

"So, I think there was more to this than a quick 'Come to Rao' meeting," Kelly said.

Lena rose, giving Kelly a glance that told her to follow her. "I actually need you for something important," she said, making her way to her office door. "Come with me."

_Some people would find this very creepy. _Kelly thought. Sometimes her aunt had a strange way of asking for help. That nice woman persona only went so far before she slowly crossed into semi-evil genius territory. It was a weird transition sometimes, and sometimes she wondered who all saw it.

The lab had been upgraded since the last time Kelly had been there. It would be much more difficult to break in if the need should ever arise. She had never seen safety measures like this, not even at the DEO. It was impressive, but also overkill. Once she finally unlocked it (which took way longer than it should have), Lena lead Kelly into the lab. She noticed the hole she had put in the wall was still there. Lena would fix a security problem, but a damaged wall? Apparently not.

"What's this about?"

"Well, cousin." Kelly hadn't even noticed Lori standing there, she was in a version of Kara's suit that Kelly had never seen before. "Mom needs your help with something."

"Nice suit, you the new Supergirl?" Kelly joked, before turning back to her aunt. "Help with what?"

Lena went over to Lori, placing her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "This suit, is a prototype, the one that will keep Kara safe from Warden," Lena explained. "However, it is missing a crucial component. One only you can help me with. I need you and Lori to spar, use your kinesis, I need the readings from it to finish the protective shielding."

Kelly nodded, more to herself. It made some kind of sense to her, she wasn't as smart as her aunt or even her cousin. Science wasn't really her thing, but if her aunt was saying it, it was probably more complicated then she was making it out to be. There was just one problem that Kelly saw in this plan. If she used her powers, her mom would know and would place the dampener on her. She didn't want that to happen.

"Just one problem," Kelly said. "My mom will know, I can't lose my powers. Even if it's temporary I can't."

Lena smiled. "Alex can't track your powers in here, and before you ask, it's a measure I've had in place since Reign."

She wouldn't question it, if Lena said there was no way Alex would know, then she meant it. Kelly knew her role in the case was over, she deserved it, and she had no place in it. But she could help, she could give them an edge. That was more than she could have asked for, a second chance, a way to prove she wasn't her father.

"Alright, I'm game," Kelly said with a grin. "What are you waiting for, Lori? Hit me."

XXXXX

When Alex came to her vision was swimming. The ringing in her ears was so intense it almost had her screaming. The world around her was on fire, but she couldn't remember why. Her shin had hit something, a wire. That was it, a trip wire, it had been a bomb they had walked right into a trap. She tried to roll over but the nausea kept her on her back. Somewhere in the distance she thought she had heard shouting, but she couldn't be sure. Alex couldn't focus, all she really wanted was to close her eyes. Maybe then her pain would go away, if only for a short time.

A part of her, in the back of her mind, nearly let her close her eyes. Before she could her vision snapped back into focus. Vasquez was standing over her, shaking her, trying to get Alex to move. Alex forgot about the ringing in her ears, reaching out to grasp Vasquez's arm. The other woman pulled her to her feet.

"We need to get out of here," she said.

"We will, but not without our agents," Alex said. "Get who you can, I'll get the rest."

Vasquez went without a hint of hesitation. Much like Alex she was a woman of action. Alex took in the scene in front of her. Walkways had collapsed, metal beams and machinery had been torn from their places. She saw two agents still on the ground, neither were in immediate danger. She couldn't figure out who they were in their tactical gear. It wouldn't matter, they both needed to get up. She ran over to the first agent, a woman Alex knew, but her name she couldn't recall at the moment. She probably had another concussion. Maggie would kill her for being reckless, but how could she have known the place would be booby-trapped.

"You need to get up," she shouted shaking the first agent.

At first all she received was a groan from the agent. It took one more first shake to get the girl fully cognitive. The agent shot up her eyes darting around in panic before settling on Alex. Nothing had to be said between the two of them. She knew she had to go, which she did, leaving Alex to get the next agent.

She moved systematically, finding four different agents, none of which were injured beyond a bruise or two. Vasquez was hard at work getting them out of the building, and the smoke was so thick Alex almost missed an agent, one she did recognize, trapped under metal girder.

"Tomlin?" Alex ran over to him, trying to lift the girder off him. "Tomlin talk to me."

"Director?" he sounded groggy, unfocused. "Don't bother, it's too heavy."

Alex tried again, her back straining under the weight. He was right, she wouldn't be able to lift it, he was trapped. They needed Supergirl.

"Hang tight, I'm going to get you out of here."

She opened her watch, pressing the El symbol to call for Kara. It only took seconds for the Kryptonian to arrive. There were no questions asked, Kara saw the danger and went straight into action. Alex ducked out of the way allowing Kara to throw the girder off of Tomlin. He groaned in pain but didn't move. Alex knew he had some sort of crushing injury but they had to move him, had to get him to safety.

"You take him Supergirl," Alex said. "I'll follow you out."

Kara lifted Tomlin from the ground, trying to keep him as stable as possible. Alex needed to make sure everyone was out. She wasn't going to let Warden take any of her people.

XXXXX

"Time out, time out," Kelly was out of breath, Lori was pushing her to the point it was almost painful. "Do you have what you need, please tell me you have what you need?"

Lena shook her head. She wasn't getting the readings she needed, and she knew that Kelly couldn't do what was required of her.

"I need you to do what Warden did to Kara," she said. "Can you pull that off?"

It was Kelly's turn to shake her head. "No, I don't have that kind of focus or control… or energy. I don't think I could even attempt it." Forming objects out of solid light was difficult enough, it usually left her drained. Removing ambient light from around a person, creating a place where light can't exist, would probably cause her to faint. That was, of course, if she could even do it.

"There has to be…" Lena was now talking to herself, her focus on the screen in front of her.

Lori exchanged glances with Kelly, shrugging. She was just as lost as her cousin. Though she was just as bright as Lena and actually understood the data on the screen. Lori went over to her mother, glancing at the screen. The resemblance between her and Lena was still jarring to Kelly. The only real difference between the two was Lori's blue eyes, she got those from Kara. Kelly sighed watching the two. Even though her parents weren't biologically her parents, she wished she looked more like them. She shared some characteristics with Alex, Kelly assumed her biological mother had something in common with her. Mostly though she looked like her father, and she hated it. She would never tell her parents the truth, but when she saw herself in the mirror, she saw him.

"I have an idea," Lori said. "I think I know how Warden has enough kinetic energy to remove the ambient light from around us."

"She has a concentrated source of light," Lena said taking the words right for Lori's mouth. "I was just thinking the same thing. Something like the DEO's yellow sun grenade, but a permanent fixture."

"Like something in her suit?" Kelly suggested.

Lena snapped, a smirk crossing her lips. "Exactly. I know how to get the reading I need, to finish the suit."

"I'm not going to like this am I?" She could see the exchange of looks between Lori and Lena which answered her question.

"No at all," Lori said. "We use my heat vision on you, all you have to do is absorb it."

"It's heat guys, how to I absorb that?"

"It's concentrated light energy, that's all it is, you can do it, I know you can," Lena said.

"No that shit hurts."

The last time she had been hit with the heat vision (by Kara no less) she had been sore for over a week. It was the only time she hadn't healed in a short period of time. She had been fifteen and the incident wasn't entirely Kara's fault. It was a mixture of poor timing and bad placement. How was Kelly supposed to know the bad guy was going to go right past her? It was something she never wanted to experience again.

"We have to do this Kelly," Lori said, "please, for my mom's sake."

_God damnit…_ Kelly thought. "Fine fuck it, hit me." She tensed, knowing Lori would hit her square in the chest. If it meant taking Warden down, Kelly would do anything to help, no matter the cost. Lori didn't give her any time to change her mind. As soon as she was in place her eyes began to glow, and then all Kelly felt was pain, and a surge of energy.

XXXXX

When Kara called her to tell her their search of the factory had been a trap, Maggie had panicked. The line had cut off before she heard if Alex was alright. She had raced over to the DEO, ignoring the speed limit. The guard at the front tried to stop her, argue with her, but she was having none of it. One threat from her was all it took to get him to back down. Inside the DEO was chaos, there were a handful of agents, running around, some carrying bandages other just trying to stay out of the way. None of them mattered, she needed to find Alex.

As it turned out, Alex found her. She ran up to Maggie pulling her into a tight embrace that was definitely not work appropriate. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief. Her wife seemed virtually unharmed. It was a huge relief.

"I was worried," Maggie said once they broke apart. "You aren't hurt are you?"

"I'm fine," Alex assured her, taking one of Maggie's hands in hers, her way of grounding herself. "Minor cuts and bruises all around. Tomlin wasn't so luck, he was transferred to the hospital in critical condition, crushing injury. No news yet."

Maggie knew Tomlin, he was a newer agent, young, full of potential and had always been eager to please Alex. She always thought the man had always had a little bit of a crush on her wife. Alex found that to be ridiculous. Maggie felt bad that Tomlin was hurt, she liked the guy, but she couldn't help but feel relief it wasn't Alex.

"Fill me in Alex," Maggie said. "No more keeping me in the dark."

"Vasquez, can you handle this for me?" Alex asked, refusing to let go of Maggie.

"Of course," Vasquez said. She caught a glance of their interlocked hands. "Take your time Director."

"Thank you."

Alex tugged lightly on Maggie's hand urging her wife to follow her. Maggie, although slightly confused allowed herself to be lead back to Alex's office. She found her wife's behavior strange, usually after an incident Alex was all focused on work, but now she seemed to want to focus on anything but. Alex shut the door behind them, pulling Maggie to her again. She buried her face in Maggie's neck, trying to calm herself. Maggie could feel how tense Alex was. She hugged back, running her hand down Alex back in an attempt to soothe her.

"I'll tell you everything," Alex murmured. "But right now I need you, please. Today was to close, I tripped the bomb that was on me. I just need…I need to know that…"

"Hey, it's okay," Maggie said, pulling far enough away to look at her wife. "This isn't your fault. Whatever you need from me, it's yours."

Her wife surged forward, cupping her face in her hands. The kiss was rough, full of want and need. Maggie kissed her back, maneuvering Alex until her back was against the wall. Her hand went to Alex's thigh, urging her to wrap her legs around Maggie's waist. Her lungs were burning when they broke apart.

"You sure about this Alex?"

"I need you, please."

That was all she needed.

It was thirty minutes later, Alex was on her back on the cot she kept in her office for those nights she just couldn't make it home. Maggie was lying next to her tracing circles across Alex's muscular stomach. Alex had broken down after, she had needed to feel Maggie, too know things were alright, that she, herself was still alive. Maggie was happy to remind her. Alex was stressed, beyond what Maggie had realized, today had been a breaking point. Maggie was just glad she had been able to be there for her wife.

"I think Kelly has been lying to us."

Maggie propped herself up on her elbow. "What makes you say that?" Their daughter rarely kept secrets from them. She had always been honest with them when she did something they wouldn't approve up. In recent years she had become a little more shut off from them but Maggie figured that was because she was an adult. What adult tells their parents everything?

"I think she knows more than she's telling us," Alex explained. "Maybe she's doing it to protect us, or maybe she's afraid of what might happen if she tells us everything. I don't know. But I know my daughter, and I know when she is keeping things from me."

She knew it wasn't on purpose, but whenever Alex referred to Kelly as explicitly _her_ daughter. Maggie hadn't been there at first but she had been around since Kelly was five. Alex seemed to pick up that something was wrong. She sat up running her fingers through Maggie's hair.

"Our daughter," she corrected. "We'll figure it out. But first I have to fill you in."

"Alright Danvers," Maggie said. "Lay it on me."

XXXXX

Kelly collapsed to her knees, her chest heaving. Lori was panting too but she was nowhere near the point of exhaustion Kelly was at. She knew Lena was waiting for her to attempt to remove the ambient light from around Lori. Her hand was shaking as she raised it, looking like one of those kids that thought that if they focused enough they could be a Jedi. In truth Kelly didn't know where else to focus on moving the light. She could feel Lori fighting it, like she could stop it. In truth she had no control over what Kelly was attempting to do.

She could feel it, the surge of power she felt, followed by a complete drain of energy. Lori was feeling it too, there was a stark contrast from Lori Luthor-Danvers the Kryptonian and Lori the human. She looked weaker, more human. Then she didn't see anything, Kelly blacked out dropping to the floor. Lori fell too, but she managed to catch herself.

Lena finally moved from her place behind the monitor, going first to Lori to make sure she was alright. Lori waved her off. Kelly was trying to get to her feet when Lena got to her. Her aunt had to give her support.

"Did it work?"

"It did, you did well," Lena said.

"Good," Kelly said. "Can I sit down now?"

"I have a better idea," Lena said. "Lori why don't you take Kelly home. Then head home yourself. I need to program this data into the suit, once that's done I'll be home."

Lori took her cousin from the table she was leaning against. Kelly was heavy, or would be heavy to anyone else. The training must have taken it out of her because she was barely standing. Lori was proud of her, yesterday she had been taking comfort at the bottom of a bottle. Today she was at least trying to go some good and she had. Maybe now she would stop being so hard on herself and so difficult to work with.

"Hey kid?"

Lori glanced up at her.

"Thanks," she said, "for knocking some sense into me."

"I'll do it again, if I need to."

Kelly laughed. "Oh trust me, you will."

XXXXX

Warden followed Ms. Thorul, with her hands behind her back. She was learning the Thorul she use to know was gone. Replaced by an angrier, colder woman who cared very little for the people under her. Thorul didn't care at all about Warden, or that was how it felt. She had been by the woman's side for over sixteen years and she gets treated like garbage because of Donovan. Had Ms. Thorul be anyone else Warden would have left years ago, but she couldn't. She owed this woman everything.

"If I may ask ma'am, what are we planning?" She was scared to question her, she would be powerless to stop her if she got angry. "The DEO found the old steel factory, we're running out of time."

Thorul stopped and turned to face Warden a smile on her face. "Right you are, and normally I would send you," Thorul poked her roughly in the chest. "But you seem to like going behind my back."

Warden went to speak but was shushed when Thorul placed her finger against her lips.

"I think it's time I paid our little Flare a visit."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Warden said. "She isn't like me, she is different."

"I'm aware," Thorul said. "I don't care, Flare has got to learn that her place is with us, and if she continues to go against me I will make sure she pays the price."

"What is your plan?"

"I'm going to talk to her, if she says no we'll she'll see just how dangerous I am," Thorul said. "You are going to wait until I give you the green light. When I do I want you to go after the girl."

Warden paused. She didn't hurt kids, she wasn't a monster. "You want me to hurt the kid?" Thorul laughed shaking her head.

"No, just use this," she handed Warden what she recognized as Kryptonite. "It won't hurt her, much."

Warden took it, shoving it in one of the pockets in her armor. There was one other problem that Warden needed to know about.

"And the secretary?"

"He'll be dealt with soon enough," Thorul said her voice growing harsh. "I am tired of working with men who think they are in charge. This is our game now Warden, Flare will join us one way or another. Now go. I have preparations to make."

Her words were final, Warden knew that. She left before any of Thorul's rage could be taken out on her. Warden was no longer in her good faith, she would do as she was told no matter how much she hated it. She couldn't betray Thorul, she couldn't. Things would work out and go back to normal, they just had to finish this.


	17. Chapter 17

**So this chapter is a week late. I have been working non-stop the past couple weeks with my one job and just recently got hired for a second job, not to mention I'm currently taking two classes, one of which is very time consuming. The next couple chapters may be released on a three week basis instead of the regular two week strictly because I am so busy. In any case thanks for reading, let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 17

Lori had practically carried Kelly back to her apartment. Her cousin had been so drained from using her kinesis that she could barely stand. It had been a relief when Lori finally drug her into her room and deposited Kelly on her bed. She was glad that her cousin was in a much better mood than the day before. Lori wondered if all she needed was to just feel useful or needed. That or her mom had said something to Kelly that had snapped her out of her self-wallowing. Vasquez was nowhere to be seen but Kelly assured Lori that the agent would be there. Kelly wasn't to be trusted to not run off and do something stupid. Though Lori was pretty sure Kelly wouldn't be up to moving any time soon.

"You need anything before I leave?" Lori was leaning against Kelly's dresser. "Like, I don't know, food?"

"I've got leftovers," Kelly said. "Worry about yourself first."

Lori grinned, "Someone's gotta look out for you."

"Right, right can that person be someone other than you?" Kelly teased.

"I doubt anyone outside of this family could stand you," she shot back.

Kelly laughed. She was always impressed with how easily her cousin came up with comebacks. She was never insulted by it, but sometimes her cousin went for the jugular. Lori wasn't exactly wrong though, Kelly had never been great in relationships and the only reason she and Nick were still friends was because they were both so weird.

"You got me, I give," Kelly said waving her off. "Now get out of here go home."

Lori could see her cousin was starting to fall asleep and didn't want to bother by arguing farther. She had to admit she was tired too. Sparring with Kelly was exhausting, the kinetic never held anything back because she knew she could never actually hurt Lori. She decided it was a good idea to leave. If she was lucky she would get home and one of her mom's would be making dinner. If not she could run and get a burger before going to bed. She left Kelly's apartment hearing her cousins light snoring as she shut the door.

XXXXX

Kelly woke up, unable to move. Her body felt heavy, like there was something on top of her holding her down. She struggled against the invisible restraints, trying to get her body to move. Panic started to set in. What was this? Sleep paralysis? She had never suffered from it before, why would she now? There was something else that startled her, a pressure on her shoulder that was completely different from the rest. Once her eyes started to adjust she realized she wasn't alone. Someone else was in her room, standing over her, their hand on her shoulder.

Before Kelly could find her voice the figure spoke. "Don't bother struggling, the paralytic I gave you is a strong one," the voice was definitely a woman's voice, but Kelly didn't recognize it. "It should wear off by morning."

"Who are you?" Kelly was finding that even speaking was difficult.

"I'm sure you've heard my name," the woman said. "I've certainly heard yours."

"Thorul," Kelly should have known, Warden was too aggressive to break into someone's home and drug them.

"The one and only," she chuckled. "It's a pleasure to finally get to meet you Flare."

Kelly wanted more than anything for her limbs to work. She wanted to attack Thorul, arrested her, do something, anything that might stop the nightmare she was living in. Thorul had gone after her family, made them a target. Kelly hated it, hated how useless she was.

"You have been giving my Warden a lot of trouble." The way she spoke about Warden led Kelly to believe she wasn't happy with the kinetic. "She went so far as to go behind my back to get you to join me."

"I've always been a trouble maker," Kelly spat.

"So I've heard," Thorul sighed. "Tell me Kelly, do you love your parents?"

The question caught her off guard. She couldn't for the life of her figure out Thorul's angle. Why was the woman there in the first place? Why go through this much trouble over Kelly when she already had a kinetic on her side?

"Of course I do, they saved me."

Ms. Thorul clicked her tongue. "No they delayed the inevitable," she said, her voice sending a shiver down Kelly's spine. "You were always meant for us. Your father made me a deal, you were the prize and I intend to collect."

"Why?" Kelly needed to know.

"Because you're special."

"I'm not going to betray my family," Kelly growled. "You and Warden can take your deal and shove it."

The hand on her shoulder was suddenly at her throat. The grip was painful, which was more of a surprise than the sudden change in Thorul's mood. Thorul leaned down over her to speak into her ear.

"The 'deal' Warden offered you was not mine. She had no right to offer you Donovan's life," her voice was low and dangerous. "I will however spare your family, including Kara, if you join me."

"Why change your mind?"

Thorul sighed removing her hand from Kelly's throat.

"Director Danvers is on the trail of the man who hired me, I've gotten all I need out of him, if he's arrested I have no reason to kill Supergirl."

Kelly hadn't realized her mom had gotten a lead on the mysterious third part in this scheme. It didn't surprise her though, bother her parents were great detectives. What surprised her was that Thorul knew. If Alex had discovered the identity of who had paid Marrison she would have kept it between her and a couple of trusted agent's. It worried her that their might be a traitor in the DEO, it wouldn't be the first time.

"If I say no?"

"I will slowly kill everyone you love, one by one until you are a broken shell of a woman."

She wasn't sure why she expected any less from the psychopath that had gotten Donovan released from prison. Thorul was insane, power hungry, Kelly could see why Warden was so eager to please her. Kelly realized saying no to her was probably the worst thing she could do. Thorul had been ahead of them all along, if she refused the offer she would kill her family. Kelly knew she wouldn't be able to stop her, not if Thorul could get into her home this easily. Joiner her would save her family and all it would cost was her freedom. For her family was that really that much of a price to pay?

Her mind made up, Kelly looked up at Thorul the best that she could, forcing a grin. "Fuck you." Kelly shot up, slamming her full body weight into Thorul. She knocked the Woman back into her desk. She had the upper hand, but only for a second. Before she could do anything more her leg, still partially numb, gave out from under her. She felt a prick in her neck from a needle. She collapsed, and for the first time caught a glimpse of Thorul's face. It was familiar but at the same time completely unfamiliar. Like she knew the woman but she didn't.

The last thing Kelly heard before losing consciousness was Ms. Thorul saying, "The hard way it is then." Then Kelly's would went dark.

When Kelly came to the second time she was on the floor next to her bed. At first she thought she had rolled out of bed onto the floor. It wasn't unusual, she fell out of bed at least once a week. The pain in her neck told her that wasn't what had happened. She remembered Thorul, their conversation. She remembered being drugged and collapsing. She remembered Thorul's face, and her threat. To come after her in her own home was insulting and the fact Thorul had so easily gotten away pissed her off.

Kelly hadn't been alone that night, Vasquez was still guarding her, making sure she didn't do anything she wasn't supposed to. _Vasquez…_ Using all the strength she could muster Kelly got to her feet. Her legs still felt like jelly causing her to stumble as she made her way down the hall. Whatever drug Thorul had given her must have been extremely potent for her to still be feeling it. There was a lot that wasn't adding up. Making her way to her family room she found Vasquez passed out on the couch. _No not passed out – drugged. _She reminded herself.

"Agent Vasquez," Kelly shook the agent. "Hey Vasquez wake up."

Vasquez didn't budge leaving Kelly to wonder if she was even alive. A quick check of her pulse told Kelly she was very much alive just unconscious. She shook Vasquez harder. This time the agent stirred then bolted up knocking Kelly over.

"What the hell kid?"

"Good you're okay," Kelly said. "I don't really have time to explain, I need you to make sure my parents are okay. I'd do it myself but I have to go to L-Corp."

"I'm not supposed to let you out of my sight except for school and work," she said crossing her arms.

"Fine, I'm going to work." Kelly was still in her work clothes from yesterday, she could change later. "I still want you to make sure they're okay."

It made sense that Vasquez didn't remember anything from the night before. The drugs Kelly had been given were probably three times stronger than necessary for a normal human. Because of that Vasquez was bound to suffer from a few side effects. She should probably be examined at the hospital or something. Kelly didn't have time to dwell on it.

Before Vasquez could argue Kelly had gathered her jacket and keys and had bolted out the door. She was sure Thorul wouldn't start with Kara that would be too big of a risk. Lena would be a risky but plausible target. Her parents… well she probably would have already known if it was them Thorul went after. Then there was Lori, but Kelly pushed that thought away. Warden may have been a horrible person but there was no way she would let Thorul hurt a teenager, would she? Kelly really didn't know the answer but she hoped there was some humanity in the woman.

Because Lori had walked her home the night before her motorcycle was still at L-Corp which meant she would have to walk. She realized the situation was urgent but she didn't want to risk putting herself in danger by using her powers.

It took her over an hour to get to L-Corp even at a half jog. There had been a moment where she almost said fuck it and took off but she held herself back. It wouldn't have been a great idea to piss her mom off more. At that point she had just taken off at a sprint, pissing off everyone else walking to work that morning. The elevator ride up to Lena's office was excruciatingly long. By the time it reached the top floor Kelly was about to explode. She ignored Lena's assistant, bursting into the office with enough force to startle Lena, who dropped the stack of files she was holding.

"Kelly! What in Rao's name are you doing?"

"Y-you… you're okay?" Kelly stammered out. She was surprised but ultimately relieved. "Where's Kara."

"D.C. Alex sent her early this morning, wouldn't tell me why," Lena replied. "Now what are you doing?"

Kelly stared at her. She swore Thorul would have acted on her threat fast with the way Kelly had denied her. Maybe she had been wrong, maybe they would wait that was all they had done so far. That had been the problem, Thorul had visited her because it was taking too long, Kelly was sure of that. She would act sooner rather than later. Which begged the question; where was she?

"Kelly," Lena snapped her fingers gaining Kelly's attention. "What is going on?"

"I… I'm not sure."

Vasquez had called Alex the second Kelly had left. The young Danvers was acting very strange. She had no idea what could have possibly freaked Kelly out so much. There was a pain in her neck that she tried to massage away. Something had happened she just couldn't recall what.

"Danvers." Alex had always answered the same way.

"Director," she paused. Vasquez wanted to say that Kelly had run out of the apartment like the place was on fire but remembered what the girl had said. "Is Detective Sawyer alright? Kelly seemed to think she wouldn't be."

"Maggie was fine when I left this morning," Alex said. "Is there something going on I should know about?"

Vasquez wasn't sure how to reply. On the one hand, yes, Kelly was acting strange and the way her neck felt it was like she had been drugged. On the other hand Kelly could have just been worked up over nothing. It could have been her way of getting back at Alex for keeping her off the case. In the end she decided to not say anything at all.

"No ma'am," she said. "I'll keep you posted."

"Thank you Vasquez."

She ended the call with a deep sigh. It was in her best interest to follow Kelly. Either she would find nothing or she would figure out what had Kelly acting so erratically.

Kelly couldn't be sure that her parents were okay, but not having heard from Vasquez told her she shouldn't worry. _And if Lena is…_ Kelly rushed forward gripping Lena's shoulders painfully tight.

"Where is Lori?" She had brushed it off before, but now? Who knew what Warden was capable of? Who knew how far she would go to please Ms. Thorul.

"She's at home," Lena said, worry trickling into her voice.

"Call her."

Lena didn't look like she wanted to do what Kelly was asking of her. Something seemed wrong, Kelly seemed borderline upset. Something had happened to push her niece into this state of worry. Choosing to listen to Kelly, Lena dialed her daughter's cellphone only for it to ring and go to voicemail. She tried three times before looking back at Kelly.

"She's not answering."

"I think she's in danger or one of us is," Kelly said. "I fucked up aunt Lena, I don't know how to fix this."

"You can get there faster than I can," Lena said. "I need to know she's okay."

Kelly nodded. She had caused this, all of it. Her very existence was putting everyone she cared about in danger. Now her cousin, her fifteen year old cousin, might be hurt because she was too much of a coward to sacrifice herself for them. Kelly hugged her aunt as tight as she could without hurting her.

"Go to the DEO, you'll be safer there," she said. "I'll find Lori and meet you there."

Her mom would put the dampener on her after this, she knew that. She'd rather be left vulnerable to Thorul and her crew than let her family suffer. She owed them that much. The door to the balcony was already open. Kelly took off at a sprint, launching herself over the ledge. She let herself free fall for several seconds before taking off towards the sky. She was at her aunt's home in seconds. Her stomach dropped, the front door had been torn from its hinges. Kelly kicked it the rest of the way down not caring what kind of damage she caused.

The inside of the apartment was even worse. The edge of the marble counter top was smashed, the coffee table (that they spent multiple family game nights around) was in pieces. Bookshelves, the TV, even the couch had been destroyed. Whatever had happened, Lori had put up a fight. Kelly couldn't see her cousin among the ruins of the apartment. Part of her was starting to worry that Warden took her. If they were willing to go that far to get to her then she would have no choice but to surrender.

"Lori!" Kelly threw the couch over hoping her cousin was underneath it. "Lori! Where are you?!"

She paused to listen. For the longest time there was silence, but just as she was about to shout for her cousin again she heard something down the hall. Kelly was by her cousin's side in seconds. She could see the green veins of Kryptonite pulsing through her body. There was a device on Lori's neck, it glowed a soft green. _More kryptonite…_ She grabbed the device trying to crush it in her hand only to have Lori scream in pain.

"Stop, please stop," Lori begged. "It's tamper proof."

"Okay, okay," Kelly said, "I'm sorry…fuck…okay."

"Warden attacked me…broke my phone," Lori was struggling to stay sitting up right. "She took the watch mom gave me…the one that calls her…"

That would be a problem for later. At that moment Kelly needed to focus on Lori and making sure she was okay. If she let the Kryptonite go to long it could kill Lori, and right now it was already at the point of being extremely painful. She had no idea how long the exposure had to be before it became lethal. Kelly knew the only people that could help Lori were at the DEO. This was no longer about her, this was about Lori. Warden had brought this on. She bent down slipping an arm under Lori's knees and the other around her back.

"I'm going make this right," Kelly said. "I'm gonna make sure you'll be okay."

Lori was admittedly heavy for Kelly, Lori had a solid build for only fifteen, something that had to do with being half Kryptonian. Not only were Kryptonians built like steel they were just about as heavy. She carried her cousin to the window and kicked it open.

"Hold on tight kid."

She felt Lori tighten her grip on her shirt before she jumped this time taking off towards the DEO. Kelly was landing on the balcony seconds later, barely able to stop her forward momentum before she slammed into the glass wall that hadn't had time to open. She slipped under it making her way down the stairs. Her mother was standing there her back to Kelly, but the screen in front of her told Kelly all she needed to know.

"You better have a damn good reason for showing up here when I explicitly told you your access to the DEO was restricted," Alex didn't sound angry, but that didn't mean much. "I also told you not to use your powers, but here you-"

The words died on her lips when she saw Lori in Kelly's arms. She had seen the effects of Kryptonite before in Kara, she knew exactly what was happening to Lori.

"You need to help her, please."

Alex went to them, turning Lori's head to look at the device on her neck. It had the same simplistic design as the dampener Kelly used but much like the one Alex had that could only be removed by one of two people, the one on Lori's neck was tamper proof. They would have to come up with a way to take it off without hurting Lori.

"Let's get her under the yellow sun lights," Alex suggested. "It won't stop the Kryptonite but it will help."

Kelly followed behind Alex to the medical suit the DEO had installed to treat Kara. It had since been upgraded to better handle the needs of Lori, Kara and Kelly because of each of their unique situations. She placed Lori on the table while Alex switched on the yellow sun lights. Lori looked like she was suffering, she was sweating and her face was twisted in pain.

"Is Lena here yet," Kelly asked. "I told her to come here, there's a situation."

"No but I'm sure she will be," Alex said. "What exactly happened Kelly? Why didn't you come to me?"

"I didn't have time," Kelly admitted. "Warden was going to act fast, I just didn't think they would go after Lori."

"I need you to start talking to me," Alex said moving to stand next to her daughter. "You are keeping things from us and because of that your cousin got hurt. No more Kelly, start talking."

Kelly shook her head. She would explain everything after Lori was better. From the second she had woken up on her floor she had been formulating a plan. Thorul had threatened her and her family enough, and she could tell the woman was starting to get impatient. Her going after Lori proved that. She wanted Kelly to hurt, to feel like she had no other option but to join her. Kelly wasn't going to let that happen, she refused to be scared into betraying her family.

"Lori!"

Alex and Kelly both turned to see Lena in the door her hand covering her mouth. Kelly momentarily panicked unable to figure out how to explain what happened to Lori. Nothing she could say would make it any better. It was her fault this happened in the first place. Alex noticed her hesitation and went over to Lena instead. She spoke in a hushed voice that Kelly couldn't understand. Lena nodded, she still looked like any mother would if their child was hurt but behind that was a stern look of determination. Kelly stepped out of the way to give Lena more room.

It only took a second for them to forget about her. Lena and Alex's focus shifted to the device on Lori's neck. Between the two of them they were bouncing ideas off of one another of how to remove the device. Most of it sounded too complicated for Kelly to even begin to understand. They wanted to try and overload it somehow but each time Alex shook her head. Either saying 'to complex' or 'to dangerous'. Panic was setting in for Kelly. She was doing everything in her power not to shake apart. They needed to focus on Lori, she couldn't be distracting them. Her back hit the wall and with a shaky breath she slid to the floor.

"Couldn't we just crush it?" Lena said. "Sometimes the simplest answer is the best."

"Sure, but Kara would just be effected like her it's affecting Lori," Alex said.

"I'm aware of that Alex," Lena said with a sarcastic smile. She then pointed to Kelly. "I was referring more to the Haranel enhanced metahuman currently sitting on the floor."

Kelly shook her head, "I already tried that when I found her. All it did was hurt her." She hadn't exactly tried to destroy it, just rip it off but even the act of touching the device had caused Lori severe pain.

"Kryptonite emits a small amount of light energy that you could absorb, weakening the stone, at the moment you can destroy it," Lena explained.

"It would work," Alex agreed. "Get up kiddo, we need you on this."

She took Alex's hand unable to get up on her own. It seemed to her Lena kept asking her to do seemingly impossible tasks. Kelly had thought removing the ambient light from around Lori would be impossible, but she did it. Lena had been right then, maybe she would be right now. It was a rock it could be beat, just absorb the light it emitted and crush the device. Simple, probably painful, but simple.

Kelly placed her hand over the device, concentrating on a single point in her hand. She could feel the small amount of light absorb through her skin. It was an uncomfortable but not painful almost like it was draining her at the same time she was draining it. She could see the green veins receding from Lori's body. As soon as they were nearly gone she closed her hand around the device, feeling it buckle under her strength. Lori suddenly gasped for air as the device fell away.

"Thank Rao," Lena had her arms wrapped around Lori in a second. "You're okay…"

Lori hugged her mother back. She was shaken, that was obvious and Kelly felt bad because of it. Alex was on the other side of the room speaking to who Kelly assumed was Brainy. She looked angry or annoyed at whatever was being said to her.

"Kara is on her way back from D.C. she should be here in the next few seconds," Alex informed them. "No good news though. The Secretary of Defense has gone AWOL, I'll be sending a team to find and arrest him. Our focus needs to be elsewhere."

"Hang on, what does Secretary Ryland have to do with Warden?" Lena moved away from Lori confident her daughter was alright.

"Recently he's be breathing down my neck about your involvement at the DEO, which isn't out of the ordinary for the bastard," Alex started. "Brainy found a dozen off-shore accounts he was using to wire money to Mr. Marrison. Turns out Secretary Ryland was the one who hired Warden, he was using Marrison as a proxy."

"That explains a lot," Lena said. "But there is still one thing missing."

"Who does Warden work for?" Kara was standing in the door way, s slight grin on her face. Kelly realized she had no idea what had happened to Lori.

"That is the one thing we still do not know," Alex said. "Whoever it is they're ramping it up, putting on the pressure, they went after Lori this morning. And before you freak out she's fine. Thanks to Kelly."

Kara went over to Lori, doing that thing she did when she was worried someone was hurt even after being told they weren't. She looked Lori over closely until she was satisfied that her daughter was okay. Kelly rubbed her arm, she knew what was coming. She had to tell them the truth. The full truth, or whatever else happened from this point on was her fault and only her fault.

"Kel, you said there was a situation," Alex was slowly approaching her. "Whatever it is, you need to tell us now, before anyone else gets hurt."

She could already feel hot tears threatening to fall, she felt so guilty for lying, for getting her cousin hurt. For not being strong enough to do what needed to be done. "Her name is Thorul. She's the one pulling the strings, Warden is deathly loyal to her and she is obsessed with me. That's what all this is about. She is after me and no one else."

Alex was biting the inside of her cheek, part of her wanted to be angry but part of her knew it wasn't Kelly's fault, she had just been dealt a very bad hand. It didn't matter, they had a name they could find out who Thorul really was.

"Okay, Brainy can run a search for Thorul, we'll find her," Alex said.

"You won't find her," Lena said. "I mean you will but not the one you're looking for."

They all turned to face Lena, even Lori swung her legs off the table to look at her mother. She rolled her eyes.

"Thorul is me, or was a long time ago."

"Excuse me?" Alex was staring at her in disbelief.

"When Lex went crazy and was arrested I changed my name to Thorul," Lena explained. "When I moved to National City, I changed it back."

Alex shook her head. This was starting to get very annoying. "Thorul is an anagram. Goddamnit. She could be anyone."

"One thing is for sure, she isn't a Luthor, just someone pretending to be," Lena said. "She more than likely knew I used to go by it."

It was Kelly's turn to shake her head. "I don't think that's true. This Thorul has known my father since before his arrest, that's how long this deal has been in play." She had to wipe a tear from her face, she wasn't going to cry. "She came to my apartment last night, drugged me and Vasquez and gave me an ultimatum. Either I join her or she goes after each of you one by one. I told her to fuck off. And because of that Lori got hurt."

"She visited you?" It was Kara's turn to be shocked. "Why would she do that?"

"Because we're getting close," Alex said. "She knows we're close to finding them, they're trying to force Kelly to choose before we find them."

"Hold on, you saw her face, you think she's a Luthor because you saw her face." Lena, smart as ever had picked up on it before the others. "You recognized her."

"Sort of, she drugged me again before I could get a great look, but she was familiar," Kelly said.

She did her best to describe what she remembered, but the night was such a blur because of what she had been drugged with. There were problems when it came to Thorul actually being a Luthor, Lillian was dead, Lena wasn't a bad guy and Lori was fifteen. Not to mention that the woman Kelly was describing a woman in her forties. Which only Lena was.

The three eldest Danvers shared glances. They had no idea who it could be either, though Kara looked like she might have a theory of what was going on.

"This may sound crazy but we're Danvers crazy is implied," Kara said. "Kelly, Lori, I know both of you are aware of what the Crisis was, now after it because hundreds of Earth's merged into one we had some doppelgangers that wound up here. We had two Winn's, Kate Kane had two Beth's, and I'm starting to think Thorul may be another Earth's version of Lillian."

"Wouldn't she be in like her seventies then," Lori asked.

"Not exactly," Lena replied. "There are Earth's that run on a different time line, some in the past, some in the future and some in the present. I think Kara might be right. We should treat Ms. Thorul the same way we would treat my mother."

"Maggie is on her way in," Alex spoke up. "Once she's here we'll come up with a plan."

Alex turned to Lori and Kelly. "Kel you keep an eye on your cousin."

Kelly wasn't sure what she had expected but she had at least expected her mom to let her back on the case. She was clearly the target, she should have some part in the final push. Lori would be fine, she didn't need Kelly babysitting her. To Kelly it looked like Lori was about to argue the same thing but before either of them could speak two agents entered the room carrying rifles. It was unusual because the rifles they carried had live rounds, they weren't the DEO issue nonlethal weapons. Behind them were two more agents, one carrying a pair of cuffs they used to restrain aliens and metahumans.

"Kelly Danvers, we have orders to detain you," the larger of the two agents carrying a rifle said.

The two agents behind the big guy stepped forward roughly grabbing Kelly's shoulders so they could force her hands into the cuffs. Kelly tried to pull away but the second, smaller agent with a rifle held the weapon pointed at Alex.

"Orders from who?" Alex growled her voice dangerously low. "You all take orders from me."

"Not this time," the largest agent said, shoving Kelly towards the door. "Our orders are from someone above you. Now step aside Director, if you do not we have been authorized to use deadly force."

"What?" Kelly shouted struggling against the two agents. Her powers we dulled by the cuffs leaving her unable to break away from the two men holding onto her.

Alex had no choice but to let them past. Kara could have stopped them but it was too dangerous to try with two of the agents carrying guns. She had a feeling she knew exactly who had authorized this, it was his last play before they arrested him. They could put Kelly in a cell (which her daughter would not like and would most likely have a panic attack about) but as soon as they did Alex and Kara would take down the four rogue agents. Once they were dealt with they could get Kelly out of the cell and Alex would take the truth seeker to the agents to find out who exactly had given them the orders and just how many traitors there were at the DEO.

She could hear Kelly shouting the entire time. Kelly was claustrophobic something she had never gotten over from her childhood. Small spaces usually sent her into a panic and a bad one. They would have to act fast if they wanted to keep Kelly fairly calm.

"Kara as soon as they shut that cell door, you and I are going in," she said.

Kara cracked her knuckles. "No problem." Neither of them had to say anything to Lena, she was already next to Lori. She knew her place was to protect Lori while Alex and Kara took care of the rogue agents. Alex had her gun in her hand and was waiting by the door for Kara. The two Luthor's would be safe without them.

"Let's go," Kara said.

Alex followed behind Kara, using her sister as a shield in case the rogue agents started shooting. She was pissed that Secretary Ryland had authorized use of live rounds, they had used non-lethal means for years, he would have had to somehow get the guns into the DEO. She pushed the thought aside, what was done was done, there was nothing she could do about it now. Her focus needed to be on Kelly and the rogue agents.

"No no no no don't put me in there! You can't do this!"

Kelly's shouting was suddenly muffled by the paneled door of the cell sliding shut. The only sound aside from her banging on the glass was the sound of a mechanical panel (most likely the security console) being smashed. If it was the security console getting Kelly out would be more of a challenge, though not an impossible one.

Alex came around the corner into the corridor. The four rogue agents had their backs towards Alex and Kara giving them the element of surprise. Alex opened fire with her weapon, taking one of the agents out immediately. The two with the rifles spun around returning fire at Alex, had it not been for Kara stepping in front of her to absorb the rounds Alex would have been mowed down on the spot. Kara used her freeze breath to knock them back before moving forward, pulling one rifle out of the agents hand and snapping it in half. The second gun man whipped around firing the rifle in her face. A second later the gun was on the ground red hot from Kara's heat vision. She slammed both the agents in the chest with her fists sending them flying to the ground, unconscious.

Alex was on the four agent, he was nowhere close to being as skilled as her. He wasn't one of her agents, but she had so many people underneath her she had no way of knowing that had moles in the ranks. She slipped under his arm, extending her baton to hit him in the back. He crumbled next to her unconscious like the other four. Once he was down the two of them rushed to the cell Kelly was in. She was still throwing herself against it trying to get it to buckle under her strength.

What Kelly was forgetting was the cells were reinforced to house some of their more dangerous inmates such as the white Martian and the unknown alien species that had taken a chunk out of Kelly's shoulder earlier that month. Even Kara couldn't break out of the cells that was what they were built for, containment. Kelly wasn't thinking straight. Alex had learned very fast when Kelly came to live with her that she was prone to going into a blind panic in closed spaces. At first she had to have her bedroom door open to not feel trapped. She had gotten better over the years for most things but enclosed spaces that didn't have an easy exit were dangerous for her. It took a lot to get her to calm down.

Much to Alex's dismay the panel next to the door was busted meaning the only way to get the cell open was to do it remotely from Brainy's computer. When she radioed him he was already on it but was running into a problem with the system not responding.

"What do we do?" Kara was trying to pry the door open but it wasn't budging.

"We can purge the system but that would let this entire block out," Alex said. "I don't really want to fight a White Martian after the day I've had."

"So what else is there?"

"We calm her down until Brainy can override whatever is keeping him out of the system."

"She's your daughter."

"And you have claustrophobia just like her, you know the trick to calming her down," Alex shot back. "Please Kara. She's going to hurt herself."

Kara nodded. It was true she had always been the best at calming Kelly down when her claustrophobia acted up. There had only been a few times where Kara had to step in because she knew what it was like to be afraid of never getting out. She spent years in a pod trapped in space, who could understand Kelly's fear better than her?

Alex left her to go find Brainy so she could help him. Kelly was starting to look warn out. She had stopped throwing herself against the door and was now just pounding it with her fist. Kara placed her hand flat on the glass, waiting for Kelly to meet her eye before speaking.

"Kelly, focus on me," she said.

Kelly stopped. She was scared, there was no doubt about that, her mind probably trapped in that closet her father had locked her in all those years ago. Kara realized she wanted to listen but was having a hard time allowing herself to.

"Put your hand on mine," Kara said. "I want you to focus your energy on your hand. Remember when you were younger, you would show me the different things you could make out of light? My favorite was the bird."

Her niece was extremely talented when it came to her Photokinetic manipulation. She could make weapons and shields, even armor, but she could also make complex shapes. Kara didn't know for sure but she thought Kelly might have learned it so she could keep Lori entertained when she was babysitting her younger cousin. The few times Kelly went into a full blown panic attack Kara (and Alex) had used that talent to get her to calm down.

"Can you do that for me?"

Kelly nodded slowly placing her left hand where Kara's was and holding her right hand out in front of her. With her focus on a singular point in her hand everything else, like the small cell she was trapped in disappeared. Slowly, but surely, a shape began to form. It was nearly fully shaped when the cell door opened, breaking her concentration. Kara grabbed her pulling her out of it almost as if something bad was about to happen. Kelly took several deep breaths to gather her composure. She never had much control of herself when it came to small spaces, but she was grateful her aunt had done her best to help her.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Kelly said starting down the corridor, stopping when she got to the unconscious rogue agent who placed her in the cuffs. "I know it's probably a priority to figure out how many of these guys there are at the DEO but I think they can wait."

"What are you talking about?" Kara was following her niece as she made her way to the command center where Alex was now with Lena, Lori and Maggie. "We can't do anything with them roaming free."

"Kara's right," Alex agreed. "We need to deal with that."

Kelly crossed her arms. "Fine have Brainy and Vasquez weed them out. We have something more important to focus on."

"Which would be what exactly?" Alex had her arms crossed as well.

"Well I think I know how to find Ms. Thorul and Warden," Kelly said. "We're going after them, no more waiting, this needs to end."

They all exchanged glances. It wasn't that Kelly was wrong, they really did need to take the fight to Warden. It was that once again, the one person who needed to stay away from the fight was the one suggesting it. Alex sighed. There was no point in telling Kelly no. She would fight tooth and nail to stay active in the case, especially now that Thorul had threatened Kelly directly.

"Alright Kelly, tell us what we need to do."


	18. Chapter 18

**So I want to start by saying I hope everyone is doing okay and is staying healthy. Writing has been difficult recently because a lack of inspiration and because even with the shutdown of a lot of businesses the one I work for is considered essential so we are super busy. But I finally have this done and I promise to keep uploading and trying to stay on schedule even during this fairly scary time. Like I said I hope everyone is safe and staying healthy, I know it isn't easy for anyone. Thanks for reading this and enjoy.**

Chapter 18

Maggie had arrived with the DEO in complete disarray. A quick word from Alex told her all see needed to know. Secretary Ryland had tried to take over the DEO but had clearly underestimated Alex. Now she was waiting in the conference room with Lori and Lena waiting for Kara, Alex and Kelly to return from rounding up the other moles. Apparently Kelly and Brainy were enjoying using the truth seeker on one of the moles. In total there were eight agents who had been placed in the DEO in the past week. What was confusing to Maggie was the why. Why had Ryland hired Warden? Why had he agreed to release Donovan?

"Alright listen up we have new information pertaining to Warden," Alex said as she entered the room with Kara and Kelly in tow. She was in full director mode and she looked angry. "Much like we thought she is not working alone. The woman she is working for goes by the name Thourl, we have reason to believe it might be Lillian Luthor."

"Isn't Lillian dead," Maggie asked.

"Old age is a bitch," Lena mumbled. Her mother hadn't deserved a peaceful death, she felt that dying of old age was too kind for the woman who caused her so much pain.

"Doesn't matter," Kelly said. Maggie noticed that much like Alex Kelly's demeanor was completely different, like she had become a different person. "What matters is this, Thorul is the one pulling the strings, not Warden. Thorul wants me, the only thing we don't know is why."

"We also don't know why she wanted Donovan released," Alex added. "Good news is Kelly thinks we can turn Warden against Thorul."

It was a sight to see, Alex and Kelly, for once not arguing about a plan of action and instead working in tandem. The mother-daughter duo made a great team when they could both agree. Kelly would make one hell of an agent someday if she really applied herself to it.

"Warden was hired to kill Supergirl, in return for her death my father would be released from prison," Kelly said. "With Ryland out of the picture there is no reason for Supergirl to die, and yet Warden still wants to kill you."

"We already knew that," Lena said, "what else is there?"

"Something Thorul said to me," Kelly said. "Warden offered me my father for Supergirl's life. Thorul wanted to let you live, which means she wants Donovan to live. I don't think Warden likes that. It's all a theory of course but I think we can use it."

Alex and Kelly had already discussed with Kara the first half of the plan where they would use the Kryptonian as bait. She had already agreed to it since they had the new suit that would keep Kara safe from Warden's Photokinesis. All that was left to discuss was the logistics of the plan and how they would find Warden's hideout. Kelly had her own idea about it but she needed to speak with Lena to make sure it would work before they went ahead with the rest of the plan.

"We're going to do what we should have done from the beginning," Alex said crossing her arms over her chest. "We are going to give Warden what she wants, we're going to give her Supergirl."

Lena looked about half a second from committing a murder. Kara had to rest her hand on her wife's shoulder to calm her down. She was aware of what the plan was and had agreed to it. Kara wasn't the only one who was going to be thrown into the fire. Both Alex and Maggie would be right there with her and Kelly wasn't going to be too far behind. They had come up with the plan while detaining Ryland's men, and while it wasn't a great one it was the only one they had.

"Please tell me there's more to it than that." Lena had taken Kara's hand in hers, nervously running her thumb over Kara's knuckles.

Kelly had always been one to pick up on even the most subtle tells. She thought it had something to do with the abuse she went through as a young child. Even at the young age of four she had always been able to tell what kind of mood her father was in. Now she could easily read people that she barely knew. Her family were the easiest to read, both Kara and Lena had very obvious tells, between pacing, crushing random objects (in Kara's case) and twisting their hands. Alex and Maggie were more subtle, their tells were in the way they held themselves, or the way their hands twitched. She could tell everyone was on edge.

"We'll have two teams, Charlie and Delta, one lead by Alex, the other Maggie each will take up position on opposite ends of the hideout, their job is to provide over watch, if things go south the teams move in," Kelly explained.

"What about you?" Maggie spoke up for the first time in a while. Unlike Lena she wasn't showing any signs of being nervous. She was completely calm which Kelly found odd.

"I'll be planting charges," she said. "Once we have them where we want them I flush them out. It also happens to be plan C."

"Which just leave you Lena," Kara said. "We want you running the operation from here, with Brainy's help of course."

Lena looked unsure about the responsibility. She wasn't use to being in charge at the DEO. Alex normally staying behind, guiding her teams from the relative safety of the command center. She had taken to promotion of Director to keep herself out of danger so she could raise Kelly. With Kelly being an adult Alex was more willing to be in the field again. Alex being in the field meant they needed someone who was quick on their feet and that they could trust. As much as they trusted Brainy he occasionally let logic dictate his actions instead of making the right call.

"If everyone is good with their roles we need to move on to a glaring issue that Kelly refused to comment on," Alex said. "How are we going to find them?"

"Yeah how exactly do you plan on finding them?" Lori had been silent for most of the conversation, she knew they would never let her help with something so dangerous.

"I'm surprised you didn't figure it out yourself Lori," Kelly said. "The answer to finding them is L-Corps secret lab."

Everyone in the room exchanged confused glances. What did Lena's lab have to do with anything? When all eyes fell on Lena she shrugged, she was just as confused as they were. Kelly smirked, it was a rare occurrence that she would be the smartest person in the room, she kind of like it.

"Think about it aunt Lena," she said trying to help them out a bit. "Why doesn't my mom have any idea that the day before yesterday I was using my powers to help you?"

"You did what?"

Kelly ignored her mother. Even though she had thought up the plan she knew once Lena understood what she was planning she could explain it better. To be honest Kelly had no idea what kind of tech went into the device that shielded Lena's lab from prying eyes. She was sure there were other ways to track Warden, had she not been drugged when Thorul broke into her apartment she might have thought about placing a tracker on her.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that," Lena said snapping her fingers. "You are absolutely right Kelly. My device puts out a very specific signal. If Thorul is using a similar device we'll be able to find it."

"Looks like we all know the plan," Alex said. "Lena I want you and Brainy to get to work on the signal. Maggie you and I need to get our teams ready, Kara just make sure you're ready by the time we need to move. Kel get whatever you need together. We will be moving tonight, hopefully that will give us a bit of an advantage."

Everyone nodded, eager to get started. Lori stuck close to Lena following her mother when she went to find Brainy. Kara followed them out needing to get her new suit from L-Corp. Alex headed out, leaving Maggie alone with Kelly. The two stood there in silence neither wanting to speak.

"You doing okay?"

"I'm fine mom," Kelly said. "I'm just tired. I want this to be over."

Maggie went over to her daughter, taking a moment to ruffle Kelly's hair. She was surprised that Kelly had let it go for so long. Kelly had always preferred her hair being fairly short but recently hadn't been cutting it. She smiled at Kelly, she had always been proud of her but never more so than in that moment.

"You're doing that thing again."

"I know," Maggie said. "Cut your mom some slack huh? I'm proud of you, keep going like this and you might end up replacing Alex."

Kelly turned to hug Maggie. The stress was starting to get to her and with the final confrontation looming over them Kelly was even more stressed. She was glad that Alex and Kara had agreed to her plan and were willing to let her help. Part of her knew that if she was allowed a bigger role in the plan she would want to go after Donovan. She still wanted to make him pay for what he had done to her mother. She knew her parents would shoot him if they got the chance. They didn't want him back in prison any more than she did.

"I love you mom," Kelly said as she stepped away from Maggie. "Let's go get the bad guys,"

Maggie smiled, squeezing Kelly's shoulder as the two of them exited the room to catch up with Alex. She was more solemn than the two of them, probably realizing that whatever they were about to go through would be incredibly difficult for all of them. Kelly pat Alex's back before leaving for the armory, she had a lot of prep to do before they moved out. Alex watched as Kelly disappeared down the stairs. She was concerned about the upcoming mission but she trusted Kelly, no matter what had happened in the past month her cousin being put in danger had been a rude awakening for Kelly.

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

"I think she's too much like her mother not to be," Maggie said taking Alex's hand. "I'm not worried about her. Not this time."

Kelly sat at the metal table setting up the charges she'd be later placing in Warden's hideout. She was actually glad to be working alone, it gave her time to think, time to plan. She had a feeling the mission wouldn't be as clean cut as they were hoping. For all she knew they would be walking themselves into a slaughter. She wouldn't let anything happen to her family. Enough people had been hurt because of her actions, she wasn't going to let it happen again.

There was one other thing she had forgotten to address. She hadn't spoken to Nick in over a week and she had never called Sara. The last thing she meant to do was ghost the officer but with how things were going she didn't have much of a choice. Kelly considered going to see Sara before she possibly no longer had the chance, maybe explain to her that she was in no condition to be in any sort of relationship. The woman at least deserved that. She should also call Nick to let him know what was going on and to apologize for her sudden disappearance. If she left then she would have the time to do both. She just needed to grab another agent to finish the charges. Luckily for her an agent walked by just as she was getting ready to go looking.

"Do me a favor and finish these charges," she said. "I'll be back in an hour."

The agent stood there, about to argue, but she was gone before he could get a word out. The Danvers always had a habit of disappearing without giving anyone else a word. He didn't mind though at least setting up charges gave him something to do, it beat walking around in circles.

XXXXX

"Ms. Thorul," Warden spoke quietly in case the woman in front of her lashed out. Her boss had been in a foul mood since returning from her visit with Flare.

"What is it Warden?" she wasn't as cold as she had been recently but there was still a bite in her words.

"Secretary Ryland has gone to ground," she informed her. "The DEO sent Supergirl to bring him in but he had already disappeared. He shouldn't be a problem anymore, unless you want me to track him down."

"No need," she said. "He's already given us what we asked for. His life means nothing to me."

"Yes ma'am," Warden said. "Is there anything you need?"

"I _need_ to be left alone," Thorul said waving her hand towards the door. "Now leave."

Warden nodded backing out of the room leaving Thorul on her own. Years she had been working under the woman as her enforcer. She had given up her life, her identity, to become Warden. Thorul treated her better than her family ever did, but that wasn't saying much having grown up in a cult. It was true she was starting to feel like Thorul was starting to go insane. They had their mission, obtain Flare and use her for their ultimate goal; keeping their reign with an iron fist. Of course with Donovan in the picture it muddied the waters. Why would Flare ever agree to join them when the man who abused her was part of the plan? Thorul had clearly lost her mind and Warden was prepared to fix that.

"Donovan just the man I was looking for," she said grabbing him by the shoulder as painfully as possible. "We need to talk."

"You finally going to take me up on my offer?" he said with a snarl.

Warden growled, she hated him, hated how he spoke to her. She should kill him, it wouldn't be that hard, she could just turn and snap his neck. Thorul would be angry. Furious even, but maybe then she would see Donovan was just a nuisance. She had to realize that having Donovan around would drive Flare away, no matter what they did.

She shoved her index finger in his face. "If I ever take you up on your offer someone damn well be ready to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger," she said. "I don't like you, in fact I would enjoy nothing more than to kill you, slowly and painfully. And if you push me much further not even Thorul will be able to stop me."

Donovan grinned enjoying how easily she angered. He enjoyed having knowledge that Warden didn't. He enjoyed knowing what her fate would be once his daughter joined them (willingly or unwillingly). She had no idea Ms. Thorul considered her expendable and that made every moment he was forced to spend with her more fun.

"Fine, what is it this time?"

"I don't know what plans Ms. Thorul has, but I have a feeling that they won't be sufficient," Warden said. "I know Flare's type, she won't come alone, not after what I did. So we have to be ready for anything."

"You give my daughter too much credit," Donovan said. "She's never been a fighter."

Warden scoffed. The last time Donovan had been face to face with his daughter she had nearly caved his face in she had beaten him so badly. He didn't see Flare as a threat, he probably even felt like he still had control over his daughter. Truth was he didn't, Warden had seen it in her eyes. Flare was out for blood when it came to Donovan.

"Don't underestimate a cornered animal, they can be the most dangerous," Warden warned him. "You need a weapon, I just happen to have one. It's infused with Kryptonite, it belonged to Lex Luthor at one point. I have a feeling you're going to be using it very soon."

"I didn't think you cared what happened to me, Warden," he said.

"I don't," she said, "but Ms. Thorul does, and I serve her."

She handed him the case housing the weapon. He took the case testing the weight in his hand, it was heavy but the weapon itself wasn't. She wasn't sure if he even knew how to yield it. Part of her wanted to leave him to his own devices, see what happened in a real fight. Part of her also wanted to get him use to it, see how good he was a yielding a blade, just in case she needed to incapacitate him if he decided to turn on them.

"Come on, might as well teach you how to use it."

XXXXX

Kara sat alone in the DEO's locker room. Her new suit was almost a carbon copy of her old one. Lena had added a bit more gold around the House of El coat of arms. There was also more plating around the chest like her Kryptonite suit Lena had originally built for her. Lena had also added more red to the rest of the suit, mostly in the wrists. Kara liked it, mostly because it was comfortable, but also because her wife had designed it. It wasn't the first time Lena had created a suit for her but every time she did it was special. Kara was also aware of the upgrades Lena had made, a shield to protect against Photokinetic energy and well as Kryptonite shielding. At the rate that Lena was coming up with things to add on Kara would completely invincible in no time.

She sighed, her fists clenching and unclenching. Warden had already beaten her once, with the intent to kill her. Kara wouldn't have been sitting there if it hadn't been for Kelly stepping in. She was use to standing alone in the face of danger, sometimes with her sister behind her and Lena offering support. This time all of them were running into the fire. They would all be lucky to make it out of this unscathed. That was what scared her most. Her wife and daughter would be safe from danger. Her sister, her niece, and Maggie on the other hand would be right there with her, risking everything to save each other.

"You don't have to keep standing there," she said. "Hiding in the shadows, trying not to be seen."

"What can I say," Lena said joining Kara on the bench. "It's not often I get to see you so quiet, deep in thought."

"I have a lot to think about."

"Like what darling?"

"That even after her death your mother just won't leave us alone," Kara said, they didn't know for sure of course but it was too much of a coincidence to overlook.

Lena chuckled leaning into Kara. "She never did get over the fact her granddaughter was part Kryptonian." She had taken great pride in breaking that news to her mother. Lillian's reaction had been priceless, it had been during one of the few times Lillian wasn't trying to kill her and Kara.

"Guess it doesn't matter what Earth she's from," Kara said resting her chin against the top of Lena's head. "She'll always think Supers and Luthor's are enemies."

Lena wrapped her arms around Kara's waist, pulling her wife closer to her. They rarely had moments to themselves where they could just sit and revel in each other's presence. When the opportunities presented themselves they took them. Everything was so uncertain, they had no idea if they would ever have a moment like this again. There was always a possibility something would go wrong, the suit would malfunction, or Kelly would falter.

"Lena, if something happens to me…" Kara trailed off. Neither of them liked discussing death, but in their lives death was a possibility. People wanted Lena dead, and Supergirl was always in some type of danger, new enemies arose everyday each more powerful and equipped to take her out. They always had a plan, but they needed to make sure the other remembered.

"I know, believe me, I know," she said. "Nothing is going to happen, you and the others will come home, safe with Warden and Thorul in custody."

"And Donovan?"

"In a casket."

"I think my sister has that covered."

XXXXX

Maggie stood back watching Alex conduct her briefing. These were her agents in her house, Maggie had no place but to stand back and listen. She always loved seeing Alex like this, focused and confident. Moments like this reminded her of the agent she had first met all those years ago at a crime scene. Each one of her agents had their full attention on her, absorbing every word she had to say.

"Warden and Thorul are to be brought in alive," Alex made sure to reinforce their main objective. "Donovan however, he does not make it out of this. If you are not comfortable taking the shot, we will."

Both Alex and Maggie had a strict moral code (one that didn't always agree with Maggie being a cop) to be non-lethal. Neither of them liked to kill, both actively avoided it and both had a body count that neither cared to share. In Donovan's case he couldn't be left alive, not after what he had done to Alex or Kelly. He would escape again. The only way they could ensure everyone's safety was to make sure he never got up again. It was one thing both of them were willing to do.

"Go get geared up, we move out in four hours."

The agents all moved as one unit, following each other out of the room towards the locker room. There were too many of them for Maggie to remember all of their names but she knew the majority of Delta team. She had worked with them once before a year or so prior. They were all good agents, extremely skilled and task oriented, but they were young and that was dangerous.

Alex sighed letting her shoulders relax. She was exhausted, emotionally and physically. In her years at the DEO she had been through a lot that drained her from Myriad to the Daxamite invasion but this topped the rest. Not only was she dealing with a threat to the city and to Supergirl but the rest of her family as well. She knew Maggie felt the same way as her.

"Guess this is it huh?" Maggie came over to stand next to Alex. "I think we're going to need a vacation after this. I was thinking somewhere and Europe. I know we always talked about it."

"Is now really the time to be thinking about that?" Alex didn't sound angry, just tired.

"Probably not, but when else would we talk about it?" Maggie countered. "Nearly sixteen years together and we just keep putting it off and putting it off. I think that once we get Warden and Thorul the two of us deserve a break."

She chuckled smiling up at Maggie. "I think you're right, but maybe we could start closer to home, say a week in Midvale at my parent's old home, just the two of us." She had always loved spending time in her childhood home in recent years, always trying to take Kelly there to visit Eliza. With Eliza being in an assisted living home Alex had promised she would take care of the house. Kara was usually the one to make the trip to make sure everything was alright. Maybe it was about time Alex and Maggie went.

"I think I could be convinced to do that," Maggie said with a smile. "Now back to business. Do we let Kelly know about our plan with Donovan?"

"No, I'm sure she'll figure out that we have no intention to bring him in alive," Alex said. "She doesn't need to know the details."

"Do you think she's actually going to let us handle this?" It was the one thing about this whole plan that worried Maggie. Kelly had never once actively agreed to hang back while they handled the situation. She was always fighting to be on the front lines with Kara or them. Maggie wasn't sure she fully believed that Kelly had come up with the entirety of the plan with the intention of staying out of the fray.

"I'm hoping she'll be smart about this," Alex admitted. "I think she's realized she can't do this alone."

"I hope you're right."

"Yeah, me too."

They both fell silent unsure if there was anything else that needed to be said. They both had plans for if and when one of them was hurt or worse in the line of duty. Both knew the risks and knew what the other wanted it wasn't something they had to worry about at that moment. Kelly would be alright if she just did what she was told and didn't get involved any further than that. Alex had learned to stop worry about Kara a long time ago, her sister was a capable fighter, and she could handle herself in the worst of situations.

"I love you," Maggie said after the silence became too much to bear. "Promise me, no heroics today. Donovan has already taken enough from us."

"I promise, only if you do the same," Alex agreed. "And I love you too."

"Let's get this done Alex."

XXXXX

Kelly pulled her jacket tighter around her, she wasn't cold, she just felt odd waiting outside of a gym to talk to a woman she had only brief interactions with. She had called Nick learning he was in the middle of a family crisis that he wished he could get away from. Sara on the other hand deserved more than just a phone call. Kelly felt she owed her some kind of explanation as to why she hadn't called or anything. She honestly didn't think that after all was said and done that she would stay in the city. She needed time to think, time to really figure out who she was, to stop questioning herself.

The problem Kelly had with all of this was that Sara knew nothing about her. She had no clue Kelly was Flare she didn't even know that she was a metahuman. Kelly rarely told her partners about her powers (the last one she had told had been in high school and she hadn't spoken to them since graduation). If Sara knew maybe it would be easier for her to understand why Kelly was turning her down. Then again maybe it wouldn't which was why Kelly wasn't going to say anything about it. She would rather disappoint Sara rather than get her hurt later on.

"Kelly! Hey!" Sara had caught sight of her almost immediately. She smiled as she approached Kelly, clearly happy to see her. "What are you doing here?"

Kelly rubbed the back of her neck. "I uh wanted to see you and uh talk to you." She was doing her best not to ring her hands but she wasn't good at this kind of thing. Communication wasn't really a Danvers thing.

Sara's smile faltered. "Nothing good ever come from that sentence." She sounded a bit disappointed but she wasn't angry.

"I feel like I owe you an explanation for not calling you," Kelly said. "I'm not a complete asshole."

"I appreciate it," Sara said.

"Let's get a coffee, then I'll explain."

It wasn't a far walk to the coffee shop, Kelly couldn't spend too much time away from the DEO, they were preparing their final assault, she wasn't about to miss it. Sara was a good cop, even better listener. Had things been better timed Kelly was sure the two of them would have made a great pair. It would be her father that would fuck things up for her. He always had a way of worming his way back into her life even while he was in prison. Part of her wanted someone to put a bullet in his head, another part of her wanted to do it herself.

"So what's the deal Danvers?" Sara pressed after they sat down. "If you didn't want to go on a date with me you could have just said so."

"That's not why," Kelly said. "Do you know who Miles Donovan is?"

"He was terrorist back in the day, Cadmus and the Children of Liberty, locked up at Albatross Bay serving out a life sentence," Sara said. "Why?"

"He's my father," Kelly admitted. "He was also released about three weeks ago. That's why I've been so flaky, I've been hiding from him."

Sara reached across the table to take Kelly's hand in hers. "I'm so sorry," she said. "Well that explains why Lieutenant Sawyer has been so busy lately."

"I just…I'm not in a great place right now," Kelly said, "maybe once he's in custody and I've had some time to figure myself out, I can take you to dinner like I said."

"I'd like that," Sara said with a smile. "You take care of yourself. I'm a patient woman."

"Well I think I have enough time to finish this coffee with you if you would allow that?"

"I think I can," Sara said with a laugh.

Kelly couldn't help but smile. She was beginning to realize that when things were at their worst taking a moment to step back and smile took some of that weight off. If she could go into this last fight with a clear head she could do what needed to be done without crossing any lines. Maybe this small spark of hope she was feeling would be enough for them to win. Maybe it was enough.

XXXXX

Alex stood in the command center with Maggie, Kara, Lori, Lena and Brainy. They would be moving out in twenty minutes after the final preparations had been made. Everyone was aware of their roles, aware of what they were expected to do. Well everyone but Kelly who was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell is Kelly?" Alex was really starting to hate Kelly's disappearing act.

Almost as if Alex had summoned her Kelly slid into the group, panting and out of breath. "Sorry lost track of time," she said. "Everyone ready?" Maggie shot her a look. She shrugged knowing that she was at fault for this one and she would take the blame for that.

"We were just waiting on you sunshine," Maggie said in a teasing tone. "Something more important than taking down a few bad guys?"

"Apologizing to a woman who asked me on a date and I promptly ghosted," Kelly shot back. "You know what that's like, don't you mom?"

Kara snorted unable to keep herself from laughing. She wasn't sure what had suddenly gotten into her niece but she was glad the young Danvers was back to her old self and immediately picking on Maggie. They had no idea what would happen to them in the upcoming hours, having a couple laughs before things got serious again felt like the best way to handle the situation. Kara wasn't going to argue if her sister-in-law got a few jabs in her direction.

"Alright, alright," Alex said stopping the situation from progressing any further (even though she found it just as funny). "Everyone knows what their job is, every one of us knows the stakes. I don't want anyone playing hero, we get in we get out. That's it, if things go sideways we pullout, regroup and find them again."

"Simple enough," Kelly said with a confident grin. "Get in, punch some shit, arrest a couple of baddies and get out."

"Let's not get too cocky," Maggie said. "We all know how dangerous Warden and Donovan are."

"I want everyone suited up and ready to go in ten minutes," Alex said before turning to Lena. "You two ready to go?"

"As ready as we can be," Lena said. "Just be careful, all of you."

They all nodded in agreement. Kara was already suited up, Alex was in her gear, the only two people not suited up were Kelly and Maggie. Kelly flicked her wrist to the side and a moment later she was in her suit, all she was missing was her helmet. Maggie rolled her eyes, when it came to getting suited up she was in the same boat as Alex.

"I'll catch up," she said quickly making her exit.

"I'll go get the charges," Kelly said patting Lori on the head. Her cousin had been quiet since that morning, allowing the rest of the Danvers to make their plans of attack. "See you on the flip side kid."

Alex and Kara stayed behind, one last moment to catch their breath, one last moment to take in the situation before there would be no time to think. Kara was ready, Warden had beaten her once but with her upgraded suit Kara would be the one walking away.

"You'll have two teams behind you incase anything goes wrong," Alex said. "Lena you have the location?"

"I do," Lena said handing Alex her tablet. "Another abandoned building, I think it was an old Cadmus facility before the organization folded."

"Good at least we'll have an idea of the layout, Cadmus never was very versatile," Alex said. "Let's get moving, we have a long couple hours ahead of us."

Alex started to leave pausing only when Kara didn't immediately follow her. Kara was hugging Lena and Lori. Alex was inclined to let her have the moment, they would be safe but Kara wouldn't be. If it hadn't been for the fact both Maggie and Kelly would be with them Alex probably would be doing the same thing. Saying her goodbyes just in case something went wrong. With one last squeeze from Lori, Kara went to join Alex, the two sisters leaving to join the rest of the team. They had fought greater odds before, but none had as high stakes for their families as this did.

XXXXX

"Ma'am the sensors have picked up multiple incoming," one of her men said. "Do you want us to do anything?"

"How many?"

"It appears to be all of them."

Thorul hadn't even noticed Warden standing behind the man. She was fully dressed in her thick armor, she held her mask in her hand. "What are your orders ma'am?"

She thought about it for a moment. She hadn't expected Flare to bring everyone into this, she had thought her threats had been enough. As it turned out her stunt had caused them all to rally and regroup. She had miscalculated their determination and now she had to answer for it. Behind Warden was Donovan, she supposed that he would be useful for more than one thing after all.

"I don't care how badly you hurt her, I just want you to bring Flare to me alive," Thorul said.

"And the others," Donovan asked.

"Kill them all."


	19. Chapter 19

**It took a long time to get this done. The mental strain that I am currently under is really getting to me. Nonetheless here is the update, I hope all of you are staying safe and healthy. We'll get through this. So here's a little distraction from the events of the world. Thanks for reading, let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 19

Warden gripped the handles of her two battle axes in her hands. Both blades dripped with concentrated venom from the alien. It had been prepared for this exact scenario. It could easily injure Supergirl or Flare. She wasn't about to lose to them a second time, one of them would pay for making a mockery out of her. Donovan stood by her side with the kryptonite blade in hand. He had proven himself fair proficient with the weapon but only real combat would show how well he truly handled it.

She could see it in the way he twitched and how his muscles tensed, he was excited to fight. Warden had no idea if his excitement stemmed from the prospect of revenge or just years of pent of rage. She knew he was an angry man, and extremely violent. He had murdered his first wife (allegedly, and his second wife, well no one knew what happened to her). She didn't like men like him. Men who had no sense of when the violence needed to end, men like him were dangerous. Which was why Warden didn't understand why Thorul wanted him around, but now wasn't the time to question it.

"Your focus is on Agent Danvers and the cop," Warden said. "Leave Supergirl and Flare to me."

"Giving me my revenge?"

"Keeping you alive." She wasn't happy about it but she had no other choice. "I don't care what you do to them but if I call you, you come, understood."

"If it means killing the bitch who took my daughter, I'll do anything you say."

XXXXX

Kara had been expecting resistance when they arrived at the old Cadmus facility, but she was seeing way more than they had accounted for. Thorul didn't only have Warden and Donovan she had probably two dozen others, all armed and dangerous. She knew they could all handle it, they had a good plan, plenty of back-up. The issue was with Kelly, her job was in and out, basically a stealth mission, but with this many henchmen Kara was sure Kelly would meet resistance.

"Head's up Alex, it's not going to be as easy as we thought," she said.

"Copy that," Alex said with a bit of excitement in her voice. "Wouldn't be fun if there wasn't some kind of problem."

She wasn't sure if 'fun' was the word she would use to describe the situation but Alex always did find the weirdest situations fun. Kara could see Charlie team (Alex's team) moving in from the north, Delta was moving from the south lead by Maggie. They would be in position in a matter of minutes, to the east Kara could hear Kelly's heart beating rapidly, she was waiting for her signal to move in. She needed to have all of the henchmen distracted before she could plant any charges, her powers didn't lend too much in the way of stealth.

Kara was having trouble finding Warden, she stuck out from the others, her armor making her bulky but Kara couldn't get a read on her, almost like she was missing. She knew this wasn't the case, Warden would be there.

"Everyone in position," Kara asked.

Everyone responded with the affirmative. It was game time, the next hour would determine their fate. Kara was holding out hope that they would win, there was too much at stake for them to fail. She would not let an even more twisted version of Lillian hurt her family. Not again.

"Go for it Supergirl, we're right behind you," Kelly said.

With one last deep breath Kara rocketed towards the building. When she landed, with her typical superhero landing (which really did hurt her knees). She came face to face with Warden. She was surrounded by red light, it twisted around her hands like snakes to a branch. Her face was hidden behind her mask but Kara could see in her eyes that she was grinning.

"Supergirl," she said her voice rising with excitement. "I've been looking forward to this."

Warden threw one of her axes at Kara as a distraction. Kara side stepped the weapon grabbing it out of the air and launching it back at Warden. She followed it up with her heat vision taking slow steps to bear down on the woman. A strand of light whipped out wrapping around Kara's arm pulling her towards Warden, Kara twisted forcing Warden to her until they were on top of one another. Kara knew she had the upper hand, she was stronger than Warden, faster but there was something in Warden, something that was stronger than Kara had expected.

"Upgrade huh? Smart, but useless, I don't need my powers to kill you."

"You're making a mistake," Kara said her voice growing low. "Thorul doesn't care about you don't you see that?"

Kara managed to get her arm in between them, using her elbow to shove Warden off of her. Her adversary stumbled but didn't fall. Warden took the opportunity to retrieve her secondary axe, hitting the two together causing sparks.

"You don't talk about her, do you understand," she shouted, pointing one of the blades to Kara. "I have served her for years, you know nothing."

Kara dodged out of the way of Warden's next swing, but Warden shifted bringing the second axe around, slicing through Kara's suit. She felt the trickle of blood down her shoulder and an intense burning. Her arm felt numb and simultaneously on fire, it was like nothing she had ever felt before. She hit Warden with a strong right hook sending the woman into the concrete wall. It splintered behind her with the force of the impact.

Warden fell to her knees, struggling to catch her breath. She wouldn't be taken down like this. If Supergirl was going to play dirty she would too.

"Donovan, I think it's time you throw your hat in the ring."

Warden heard him chuckle over her earpiece. "I'll be right there. Save some fun for me."

XXXXX

Kelly set the backpack of charges neck to her on the ground. She had to place twenty of them without being seen. It wasn't that she couldn't do it, because she could, but it was going to be a very difficult task. Delta and Charlie teams were distracting Thorul's men while Kara was alone fighting Warden. Kelly could hear the fight happening but she couldn't tell for sure who was winning. She sighed, ultimately it wouldn't matter if she didn't get the charges set, the goal wasn't for Kara to beat Warden, it was to distract her long enough that they could smoke them out and take them down.

She reached into the bag, digging out the detonator. She would be waiting for the signal before blowing the place, but she wanted the detonator close at hand in case she had to act fast. With the detonator strapped firmly in her ammo pouch that she carried but had no use for she went to sling the bag over her arm only to not be able to lift it up. She only caught a glimpse of someone standing on the strap. Kelly reacted on pure instinct, whipping around and drawing her staff. The unknown figure raised their hands up, shielding themselves from her.

"Wait!"

"Lori? What the fuck are you doing here?"

Her cousin was wearing, what Kelly assumed to be, Kara's old suit, from way back in the day. She was standing there like there was nothing wrong, that this was just one of those days they practiced together. Only it wasn't, next to Kelly was a bag full of bombs, enough to take out a large Cadmus facility.

"I wanted to help."

"Are you insane," Kelly nearly shouted, barely managing to keep her voice down. "This isn't a game Lori, you could get hurt again. Or worse."

"So could you, and here you are," Lori shot at her. "I'm not asking you to let me fight, I'm asking you to let me help. It will take too much time for you to plant all the charges yourself, let me help."

Kelly cursed under her breath as she shut off her communication with Lena. If they were going to do this it was going to be without Lena screaming in her ear. She dug five of the charges out of her bag and handed them to Lori. Her cousin was right, she would take too much time by herself. If they could both plant the charges they would be out in half the time and Lori would have more time to get to safety.

"You get in and you get out," Kelly said firmly. "Do not engage with anyone, if you are seen, run. No heroics from you, once we are done you go back to the DEO and stay put is that understood?"

Lori gave a curt nod. "Loud and clear."

"Follow my lead."

Kelly held up three of her fingers to give them a count down. It would almost be a race with Lori having a huge advantage with only five charges. Her countdown reached one and she waved at the building, giving the signal to move. They took off together, Kelly leaving a trail of light in her wake. Five minutes in and out, no longer, they didn't have a choice.

XXXXX

None of them had accounted for how many men Thorul might have at her disposal. Alex was wishing that they had. Charlie and Delta teams were enough of a distraction to pull the heat off of Kara and Kelly but that was all they were, distractions. There was no way for them to offer any support, they were all but boxed in the only options they had was to continue the distraction or retreat. At this point, with the charges not yet set and Kara still trapped fighting Warden retreat wasn't an option.

"How are you holding up Mags?"

"Managing," there was a loud grunt from Maggie followed by a scream that Alex assumed came from one of the henchmen. "You?"

Alex ducked under the arm of one of the henchmen, a very large guy. She reached for her baton, extending it fully, knocking the back of his knee. He lost his footing falling back when Alex hit him in the chest, breaking his ribs.

"Same," Alex said. "Hopefully Kelly is getting those charges set."

Neither of them could afford to be distracted by one another. Alex couldn't help but worry about Maggie. She had lost two men already to Warden, she wouldn't lose any more to the psychopath.

Two more henchmen grabbed her attempting to drag her down. She struggle against them, unable to break free. One of them kicked her knee, bringing her to the ground. She heard one of them with a gun, then felt the cold steel against her neck. Her heart was pounding but she knew that they wouldn't be pulling the trigger. Her instincts were right, there was a separate gun shot and the henchman on her right collapsed, a bullet wound in his back. Alex punched the remaining henchman in the stomach, flipping him over her shoulder and knocking him unconscious with another blow to the head.

"Kelly how are those charges coming?"

There was no response over the comm. "Goddamnit Kelly what have I told you about keeping the channel open…" Her daughter had been notorious for turning off her comms, she never liked to hear Alex telling her how to handle a situation. Alex had hoped that this time would be different, that Kelly would understand that this was not any normal situation.

"Charges are planted and primed, waiting on your signal," Kelly's voice was suddenly in her ear. "Couldn't risk being heard, sorry about that."

Two more henchmen fell before Alex one with a broken nose the other with a broken shoulder. They were still coming in droves, her team was surrounded by another dozen, and she could only guess how many Maggie and Delta team were dealing with. Falling back would be the best course of action, once they were at a safe distance Kelly could detonate the charges and they could flush them out.

"Alright, everyone fall back," Alex shouted. "Kara it's time."

XXXXX

"You can still stop this Warden," Kara said through bloodied teeth. Even with the suit Warden had the advantage over her with frenzied attacks she had landed more blows on Kara than Kara had on her and it was starting to wear on the Kryptonian. "You don't have to be what Thorul has turned you into."

"Shut up," Warden growled hitting her again with the blunt side of her axe. "Do you think your hope speeches are going to save you now? Not everyone can be talked down Supergirl. Some of us just like to make people bleed."

Kara barely managed to catch Warden's hand as she swung her axe again. With her free hand she punched Warden in the chest, something cracked, maybe a rib, maybe something else. Warden stumbled back but kept a hold on her weapon, flipping it so the dull part of the blade rested against her forearm. Kara spotted Donovan slowly moving towards her. There was a blade in his hand, glowing green. She suspected it was forged with Kryptonite, which would be a problem they hadn't anticipated. If she could keep moving she wouldn't have to worry about Donovan until she had Warden subdued or Kelly blew the charges.

Warden lunged ducking under Kara's leg when she went to kick her. Her axe caught the edge of Kara's cape tearing the fabric. Donovan was circling around them, staying out of the way but close enough to strike given the chance. Kara used her heat vision hoping to put Warden off balance. She thought it was working until she realized it was barely effecting her, it was almost as if she was absorbing it.

"You think that can stop me?" Warden snarled. "I control light Supergirl and that's all your heat vision is. Try again."

They clashed again, Kara gaining the upper hand in strength but Warden was able to slip under her arms and get behind her twisting Kara's arm behind her back and using her free arm to put Kara in a chokehold. Kara struggled unable to break free of Warden's grasp for some reason.

"I've killed Kryptonian's before. You think you can beat me just because my powers don't work on you?" Warden laughed in her ear. "You're sadly mistaken."

Kara didn't even see him coming. One moment she was struggling to get free of Warden's grasp, the next she felt her body on fire as something plunged deep into her abdomen. She glanced down, her hand shaking only to see Donovan grinning up at her pressing his blade deeper into her. Warden let her go and Donovan moved aside allowing her to stumble forward. She felt blood trickle from her lips just as she collapsed, her hands around the hilt of the blade. Donovan was on top of her before her back even hit the ground, tearing the blade from her abdomen. It burned like a thousand suns, it hurt worse than when Reign had beaten her. He smiled down at her, lips peeling back from his teeth, something fitting death itself.

"All this started with you, you're the reason I lost my daughter," he said, kneeling over her running the blade against her throat. "You took my daughter and now I'll take your life."

He stabbed her again, this time in the chest. She felt the blade nick one of her ribs, causing part of the blade to snap off. More blood seeped from her mouth, she was finding it hard to breathe, or even to stay awake. She knew it was over, but she could get one last message out.

"Alex…" it was so hard to form words, but she knew she had too. "Run."

XXXXX

When she heard her sister's voice so weak in her ear Alex nearly fell to her knees. Kara was hurt, they were too late. She had to make a decision and she needed to make it fast. Her team had already fallen back, a full retreat would be easy to do, but she couldn't leave her sister and she knew Maggie wouldn't leave her. That left only one option in her mind.

"I want everyone to make a full retreat," she said over her comm, before switching it so only Maggie could hear her. "Kara is in trouble…I'm not leaving her and I know you're not leaving without me. So we do this together."

"I'm right behind you."

It was the response she was hoping for. It was likely neither one of them would make it out of the warehouse in one piece. If Kara had gone down with her upgraded suit they didn't stand a chance. At least it would give the others time to regroup and rethink their plans. Alex knew Kelly wouldn't understand, she knew her daughter would be angry, but she would listen. She had to listen. Their sacrifice would be for nothing if Kelly didn't listen. She opened a channel to her daughter, Maggie had agreed without any convincing, if only Kelly would be so easy.

"Kel, I need you to listen to me and listen carefully," Alex said. "Kara is down, both Charlie and Delta teams are in full retreat, I need you to take the detonator and go with them. Brainy can remote detonate from the DEO."

"Hang on," Kelly said already in a defensive mode. "What about you?"

"I'm not leaving my sister, and Maggie isn't leaving me," Alex said, matter-of-fact. "In case we don't come out of there they're going to need you."

She could hear Kelly starting to pace. It didn't take much to get Kelly frustrated and this was a blow. They had a plan, a good plan, and it had all fallen to pieces in twenty minutes. Alex hadn't expected to fail. Kara was strong and smarter than Warden. The DEO was more organized than Thorul and her men, and yet they were the ones losing. They had missed something or had just been too confident and they were paying for it.

"I can help," Kelly said. "You're going to need me. I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm sorry Kelly…" Alex said doing her best to keep the pain from her voice. "The DEO is going to need someone to lead it in the case I don't make it out. They need you more."

"Don't talk like that."

"I'm being rational kiddo," Alex said. "They can't beat Warden without you, today proves that. I don't want it to be this way but if Maggie and I don't make it out the DEO and this mission are in your hands."

"Fuck that nonsense," Kelly was shouting now. "You are the Director of the DEO and you're talking like we've already lost."

"We have Kelly, you need to understand that."

Alex paused long enough to bring Brainy in on the conversation. She knew he had already calculated this outcome, it had probably been the most probable one he just hadn't said anything. Alex knew she didn't have to say it but she needed Kelly to hear. Maybe it would make things easier.

"Brainy in case I don't make it out I want Kelly to be named acting Director, I know with your help she'll be fine."

"Of course Director."

Kelly's voice was only getting louder the more desperate she became. She was realizing there was no talking her mom out of this. Her mind had been set. Alex knew she would understand one day and she wasn't going down without a fight.

"No matter what happens Kel, your mother and I love you," Alex said before ripping the earpiece from her ear.

Maggie had joined her at this point. She was bruised and bleeding but she still had some fight left in her. No words were spoken between the two of them as they started towards the building. The majority of Thorul's men had either been taken out or had retreated. It would be easy to get in but Alex suspected getting out would be next to impossible. They both knew the risk but neither of them were willing to leave Kara behind, no matter how futile their rescue was.

XXXXX

Kelly tore off her helmet, throwing it to the ground. She was dripping in sweat, unable to calm herself down. Part of her wanted to scream. To rush inside the building and tear everyone apart before blowing the place sky high. If she did that she would be disobeying her mother, the woman who was currently sacrificing herself so everyone else could escape. Why did Alex have to be so selfless? So stupid?

"Goddamit," she growled running her hands through her damp hair. She needed to make a decision and quick.

On the one hand her mom was right, the DEO needed her to take down Warden, once she was in prison Kelly could step down, hand the DEO back to J'onn. On the other, her mom wasn't going to abandon her sister so why should Kelly abandon them? But was it really abandoning them if Alex was telling her to go? To her the answer was no, it wasn't abandoning them, but it was running away and a Danvers doesn't run away.

Lori was still standing behind her, watching with baited breath. Maybe Lori could help. Kelly was already formulating a plan in her head. Warden would escape, there was no avoiding that now, but maybe together the two of them could get the others out. Maybe they could save them. She was still pacing when she turned to Lori.

"Ok…ok." She held out the detonator for Lori to take. "You take this, I'm going in. I need you to detonate this when I give the signal once the charges go off you get inside and get Kara and Alex out of there."

"Wait what about you?"

"Don't worry about me, just do what I tell you. You get them out and get to safety do you understand?"

Lori shook her head, she wasn't about to leave her cousin. Kelly wasn't having it, the light around her flared. She grabbed Lori, forcing her cousin to meet her eyes. Lori gasped, her cousin's eyes, normally hazel in color were now glowing almost golden, like the light around her.

"I'm not asking Lori, once you get them get out of there. I'll get Maggie out," Kelly shouted. "Just do as I say."

Kelly picked up her helmet brushing off the dirt that had gotten on the visor. She would hate to lose a fight because she couldn't see. Before she pulled it back on she activated her comms, connecting with Lena back at the DEO. "Lena, Supergirl and my parents have gone dark, I'm going in. Have medical on standby."

"Be careful," was all Lena could muster.

XXXXX

Alex and Maggie both fired the second they hit the end of the hallway. Alex almost missed Warden shoving Donovan out of the way shielding him with a barrier of light. She saw Kara on the ground in a pool of her own blood. Maggie broke left while Alex went right trying to circle around Warden and get a shot on Donovan. Alex could tell Donovan had blood on his hands, he had been the one who stabbed her sister. She wasn't keen on leaving Maggie to deal with Warden on her own but she wasn't going to let Donovan get away either.

"Supergirl, you still with us?" She could see her sister was still conscious but she had no idea how bad she really was.

Kara struggled to raise her hand, whether in response or as a warning. Neither of them had any way of knowing. All they could really tell was that Kara needed medical attention and fast. The longer she was exposed to Kryptonite the more likely she would die of Kryptonite poisoning.

"Now's your time Donovan," Warden said holding up her hand for tendrils of light to slowly creep towards Alex and Maggie. "I'll leave them to you."

Alex didn't even see the tendril before it ripped the gun from her hands. Warden watched her and Maggie, both disarmed, but made no move to intercept them. True to her word she was leaving them to Donovan. Alex doubted her could take them on together. She had years of training as an agent, all hand to hand combat. Maggie, who had considerably less training, was just as skilled as Alex. Donovan had no training that either of them knew off. Sure he had been in scuffled during his time in prison, but he was nowhere as good as them.

"You can have her Warden," Donovan said nodding towards Maggie. "She had nothing to do with my daughter."

Donovan slowly advanced on Alex, a broken Kryptonite blade in his hand. Alex had no other weapons but her baton. It wasn't ideal but she could cause a lot of damage with it. She risked a glance at Maggie. Her wife was standing bare fisted with no other weapons. She didn't normally carry a baton, she let her fist do the talking when she had too.

Warden had turned her absolute attention to Maggie. She wasn't moving but the light around her was alive like a pit of snakes, ready to strike at any moment. Maggie couldn't take her eyes off of the tendrils even to look at Warden. She knew the meta-human would never strike on her own. She was being used as a distraction to give Donovan the time her needed to deal with Alex.

There was nothing Alex could do besides fight Donovan. She had no doubt that Warden would step in if Donovan appeared to be losing. Her death would be slow and painful, but it would mean something. It would mean her daughter lived to fight another day. Her sister-in-law would fight to ensure justice was served and her niece would know what heroes had to sacrifice. Maybe it would save Lori from ever becoming a superhero. Maybe Kelly would rethink being a vigilante and would lead the DEO into a new age. Alex would never know. It broke her heart but she knew it was the only option, she and Maggie and Kara would die so the rest would live.

Donovan threw the knife trying to hit Alex with the blade. In any other case it would have hit her but it was broken and unbalanced, making it easy for Alex to step out of its path. Alex could have gone after it, used it against him but she thought better of it. If she went for the knife Warden would stop her and she would get nowhere. She had her own weapon, and she could bludgeon pretty hard.

"I have been waiting seventeen years for this," Donovan said his voice dangerous. "Seventeen Goddamned years I have waited to make you pay for taking my daughter away."

Alex was past threatening, she had done enough of that in court during his sentencing. All the combat training she had ever gone through disappeared. Her only focus was Donovan and making sure he never hurt anyone in her family again. She could easily keep up with him, blocking his punches and returning them. He didn't seem fazed when she managed to hit him with the baton. She began to wonder if he could even feel pain, he had laughed her off when Alex had broken his nose.

She raised her arm prepared to bring her baton down to break his shoulder. Donovan grinned at her. He grabbed her arm twisting it to the point she thought it might snap. The baton fell out of her hand clanging against the floor. He kept ahold of her hand as he kicked her foot out from underneath her. Alex fell feeling a bone in her arm snap. Donovan never let go as he snatched the baton from the floor. He hit her arm with such force she felt something else break before he let go. She heard Maggie shout her name but she couldn't focus. She felt sick. Alex knew her body was going into shock. She couldn't understand how Donovan always managed to get the upper hand over them, he was always beating them.

Maggie tried to run to Alex but Warden cut her off, easily lifting her off the ground. She struggled, trying to pull Warden's hands off her, kicking out trying to get any type of traction. Warden looked her up and down as she struggled to breathe.

"Warden?" It was Thorul's voice in her ear.

"Yes?"

"The girl is on her way in," Thorul said. "You and Donovan are going to need to focus on her."

"Copy that," Warden said throwing Maggie aside. "Donovan, she's here."

Kelly stood in the door way her staff fully extended by her side. She was scanning the room, formulating a plan, a course of action. Warden retrieved both her axes, infusing the blades with light to make the blade larger. Donovan scurried away from Alex's limp body suddenly afraid of the repercussions he was going to face.

"What do you say Warden?" Kelly said, the light around her growing in intensity. "Ready to finish our fight?"


	20. Chapter 20

**I may have gotten just a little carried away with this chapter but there was no way to chop it into 2 so….here's 9k words. Two more chapters remain to close out everything. I'm not exstatic about how all of this turned out but practice makes perfect so here's to learning. I had so much fun righting this chapter (I've had like 18 different versions written out and this one was completely different from all of them). I've been waiting since day one to share this chapter with you so thanks for reading, stay safe, tell me what you think and as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 20

Alex tried to push herself up but the pain in her arm made it impossible. She had broken bones before, her leg, multiple ribs, her shoulder and very nearly her back. The pain had been immense then, this was ten times worse, the more she moved the more the bone twisted and the more it hurt. She needed Maggie to help her up, to get her out of there. Her wife was on the ground twenty feet away, groaning softly probably having hit her head. Kara had stopped moving completely except for the rise and fall of her chest. She would bleed out before they could get help, Alex had known this would be a one way trip. Her only regret was that it had to end this way.

Someone stepped over her, being careful not to step on her. Her vision was swimming but she could see the red and teal shimmer of armor, and a silver staff scraping the floor. Alex dug her nails into the concrete trying to force herself up again. Kelly couldn't be here, Alex had told her to run.

"Kelly…you can't…" She reached for her daughter, trying to stop her only to miss.

"I've got this handled," Kelly said. "No one else is getting hurt today."

Alex could hear the start of battle as metal clashed against metal. Kelly and Warden were blurs of red and yellow as they danced around the room. She couldn't even find Donovan any more, he had seemingly moved out of the way of the two kinetics fighting. Maggie was rolling onto her side having finally come too. She was going to be suffering from a concussion and wouldn't be paying attention to her surroundings. Alex needed to get to her but the nausea was feeling was getting worse. She knew she was going into shock and would be useless the longer she went without help. If she could just get to Maggie maybe they do something, maybe Maggie could do something.

XXXXX

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to scream, to throw something, part of her even wanted to throttle someone. It was one thing that her sister-in-laws were hurt but her wife? She had come to terms with the fact Kara would get hurt, it was part of being a hero. It didn't mean she liked it. She hated it, seeing Kara bloodied and broken, seeing her in pain. What kind of person wouldn't be phased by that sort of thing? Maybe she couldn't see Kara or know how badly how she was hurt, but hearing that Kara wasn't responding pissed her off. She felt useless, unable to help, she had always felt like that. There had been times that she had helped Supergirl, creating a suit to protect her from Kryptonite or having her powers drained, but she had never stood directly beside her and fought. Not like Alex had, or Maggie, or even Kelly. She was the only one to not be on the frontlines when everyone else was.

"Brainy what's the status on the teams?" Lena felt a headache coming on one she knew she wasn't going to shake.

"Both on their way back to the DEO," Brainy said. "Both are reporting several casualties and multiple injuries."

"And Flare?"

"Radio silent, much like the Director and the others."

She could have thrown something if she had something to throw. How could they ever think this plan would work? They were more organized, and had larger numbers than they did. Hell they even had a Photokinetic three times stronger than Kelly even with her enhancements. They had underestimated the determination of a Luthor with nowhere to go, with nothing else to do. Lena cursed under her breath. She should have done more. It was pathetic how little she had contributed to the group. From the analysis of the alien venom to creating Kara's new suit (which had done nothing to protect her) she hadn't done a thing that helped them at all. She had failed as much if not more than the rest of them and she was on the brink of losing everything because of it.

"Is there something you want us to do Lena," Brainy asked, pulling her out of her own thoughts. "Should we involve the local police?"

"No," Lena said. "Kelly requested for medical to be on standby, that's what we'll do."

"If that's what the Director wants."

"Excuse me?" Lena had no idea what Brainy was talking about.

"Alex made the request that Kelly be made acting Director of the DEO should she become…incapacitated. She had gone silent, therefore I must assume the worst."

Lena knew what Brainy meant by _incapacitated_ but she wished she hadn't heard it from him. She refused to believe Alex was gone this early, they had no way of knowing and until she had tangible proof she wouldn't believe any of them were gone. Kelly needed her functional.

"Lori I need you to-" Lena stopped mid-sentence when she realized her daughter was no longer in the command center. She turned to Brainy, "where did Lori go?"

Brainy glanced over his shoulder for a brief second before shrugging, "Unsure. I had not realized she left. Perhaps she is in the locker room?"

She doubted it, but she also knew she needed to check, she hoped he was right. The alternative was something she didn't even want to consider. Lena left Brainy to gather medical personnel while she went looking for her daughter. Lori could only be in so many places and it wouldn't take Lena that long to search them all. She moved methodically in her search being careful not to slip (the DEO's floors were not heel friendly). As more and more areas came up empty the pit in her stomach grew.

Her search was becoming desperate when both interrogation rooms turned up empty. It left only one place left where Lori could be – the training room. If she wasn't there Lena knew she was nowhere in the building. She prayed to Rao that that wasn't true. Her heart was pounding when she pushed open the door into the training room, then it stopped beating all together. Lori wasn't there, she was gone. She wanted to blame Kelly for her own daughter's actions but knew it wasn't Kelly who had talked Lori into whatever she was doing. Lori had made this decision on her own. She made her way back to the command center to rejoin Brainy. Her earpiece sat on the desk in front of her so she picked it up.

"Where the hell is my daughter Kelly?"

"Now is not a good time Lena." She could hear Kelly struggling, her niece was short of breath but Lena wasn't going to let this go, not until she knew for sure.

"Where is she?"

"Fuck," Kelly shouted. "She's safe alright? It's too late to do anything about it now."

"Goddamnit Kelly I swear if anything happens to her."

"She won't. I won't let anyth-"

Kelly never finished her sentence, there was the sound of metal shattering, someone grunting in pain and then Lena couldn't hear anything.

"We've lost all contact with Flare," Brainy informed her. "She's completely on her own now."

Lena hung her head, she had distracted her niece. _Now what do I do…?_

XXXXX

The entire right side of her helmet had buckled against Warden's axe before shattering completely. The jagged edges had sliced up her face very nearly hitting her eye and completely destroying her helmet's comm system. She felt the blood rolling down her cheek to her neck, it wasn't going to heal quickly. She felt the burning of the venom in the cuts already. Warden had taken measures to ensure she could be injured.

Warden only gave her a second to breathe before lunging at her again. She barely had time to bring up her staff to catch both blades before they tore into her armor. Kelly had no idea what the blades were made out of but it was strong enough to tear through the Nth metal her suit was constructed from. She was surprised her staff was holding up against the axes after her helmet shattered. Kelly realized she was in serious trouble if she wasn't careful.

She was so distracted by Warden that she didn't even notice Donovan coming up from behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her partly off the ground. Given his age Kelly was surprised by his strength, but then again her mom could almost could still lift her with no problem. She struggled but couldn't find the leverage to get free, even with her superior strength. Warden took the opportunity to charge at her again but Kelly took the opportunity to plant her feet on Warden's chest. Using Warden's chest as leverage she flipped over Donovan so she was behind him pulling her staff against his throat for a second before planting her foot on his back and kicking him into Warden causing them to collide.

Warden fell unable to catch herself because of the suddenness of the move. Kelly used the moment to break away from them. She grabbed Maggie who was now on her knees and drag her over to Alex. She had just let go of her mother's arm when an axe flex by her, slicing through her pauldron. By the end of this (if she was still alive) Lena would be making her an entirely new suit.

"You're not making this easy," Warden sneered.

_Why the hell would I be?_ Kelly wondered. It wasn't like Warden was going to make it easy her. In fact Warden was making this whole fight extremely difficult. Kelly didn't use anything that could be lethal, that was one of her mom's biggest rules (of course Alex broke it a lot) but Warden had two war axes both very lethal. How was she supposed to handle that? Donovan was part of the problem. She wasn't exactly worried about him but he was becoming a nuisance.

He was the next one to throw a punch. Kelly easily moved out of the way, catching his fist and twisting it to the point she nearly broke it.

"Do you really think you're a match for me old man?" Kelly teased him, finding some humor in the fact that he thought he could hurt her. "You can't even touch me."

She brought her knee to his face, dropping him like a fly. As long as he stayed down Kelly could focus on Warden. She just needed to waist enough time then she could signal Lori. Warden didn't wait she was on Kelly in an instant. Kelly fought back having to jump over Donovan so she didn't trip. Warden was relentless completely determined to hurt her.

"Just give up Flare," Warden shouted between swings of her axe. "It's over, they're dead and you will be too if you don't join us."

"Kiss my ass."

Warden swung at her out of blind rage. It was the opening Kelly was looking for. She brought her staff around hitting Warden square in the jaw knocking her back. As her back hit the ground Kelly smirked using the light energy she had to pin Warden to the ground. By now Donovan was on his feet but moving slowly. All Kelly had to do was bring her hand up forming a spear from the light directing it at Donovan. Laughter bubbled deep in her chest. All she had to do was piss Warden off enough to distract her. She found it exceptionally pathetic.

"It's over," she said with a deep growl. "You're both under arrest."

Warden was struggling against her restraints but was unable to break free. Kelly had her trapped and had no intention of letting her go. Donovan was almost cross-eyed watching the spear that was only inches from his face. She hadn't won yet but she still felt relief that it was finally going to be over. The moment was short lived. Behind her a slow rhythmic clapping began, slowly moving closer to her.

Kelly risked a glance over her shoulder to see where it was coming from. Thorul was slowly making her way over to Alex and Maggie. Unfortunately Kelly could do nothing to stop her, all of her focus was on Warden and Donovan. She didn't have enough control to handle Thorul as well. Warden began struggling harder, pulling against her restraints hoping Kelly would be distracted by Thorul's presence.

"You never cease to amaze me Kelly," Thorul said. "You are remarkable for someone so young."

She was so calm and collected that it put Kelly on edge. This wasn't a woman who was about to lose. This was a woman who was about to pull out her ace in the hole. Thorul smiled a gun appearing in her hand seemingly out of thin air. She pressed the barrel against Maggie's head the calm expression never leaving her face. Kelly growled but was unable to move least she let Donovan or Warden free.

"Let me make this very simple for you, I do not care who lives and who dies. These two mean nothing to me, but I know they mean a lot to you. I will gladly let them live, I only ask for one thing in return."

"You can't buy my loyalty," Kelly warned. "The only way this ends is with you in cuffs."

Thorul laughed. "I am not asking you Kelly, you will join me one way or another. Your family will live, so long as you come willingly. All I want in return is for you to kill Warden."

"What?"

The utter shock in her voice startled Kelly. Warden had stopped struggling to stare at Thorul in disbelief. Kelly couldn't decide who was more confused; her or Warden. Thorul only sighed at Warden.

"You didn't really think that I needed both of you did you Warden?" Thorul sounded so indifferent that it was almost pissing Kelly off. "You were simply a placeholder until Flare joined me. You were never meant to be a permanent addition."

Kelly light the light fade away from Warden. She was confident that this realization would be just what Warden needed to turn on the woman she had pledged her loyalty to. Warden rose slowly, her fingers wrapping tightly around the handle of her axe. Behind her mask her eyes had begun to glow red, almost like what Lori had described Kelly's eyes doing. It was something Kelly had never seen before but was sure had something to do with their unique abilities. Kelly was surprised when she found the tip of the axe pointed at her.

"You did this," Warden growled. "This is because of you."

Maybe freeing the crazed psychopath who had nearly killed her cousin, aunt and both her parents was a very stupid idea. Perhaps once this was all over, if she was still alive, Kelly should undergo a psych eval to make sure she wasn't crazy. The spear dropped away from Donovan as Kelly jumped out of the way of a tendril that left scoring on the concrete. Kelly didn't see it but she heard Maggie being pistol whipped before Thorul handed her gun to Donovan.

"Ensure your daughter survives," she said before leaving. She had done the damage she had meant to do, her presence was no longer necessary.

Kelly felt a bullet fly by her face hitting Warden in the shoulder. Warden didn't even flinch completely fueled by rage and adrenaline. Kelly was taking the moment to regret the majority of her life decisions. She could have just graduated college, become a criminalist and gotten married. But no she had to become a vigilante and nearly get herself killed because a Luthor from a completely different Earth had gotten it into her head that Kelly was to fulfill some sort of idea she had.

"Don't you see what she's doing Warden?" Kelly shouted trying to diffuse the situation before she really got hurt. "She wants us to fight, stop this now and help me."

"Shut up!"

When Warden swung at her Kelly had no time to dodge out of the way because Donovan was standing so close behind her. The metal of her chest plate stood no chance as it was shredded from her shoulder to her hip. The blade only grazed her skin barely causing a scratch. It still burned like hell. She grabbed Donovan's arm forcing him between her and Warden, if he was so interested in keeping her alive he could act as a shield. Warden didn't even seem to notice him until her axe was buried in his back.

Donovan spit out blood, staining Kelly's armor. He fell forward into his daughter's arms, desperately grasping at her shoulders. She was in such shock that she dropped her staff to catch him without meaning too. Warden had paused, her eyes shifting between the axe buried in Donovan's back and the look of disbelief on Kelly's face. Donovan reached for Kelly's face grasping the back of her neck, latching on to her with the last of his strength.

"You will always…" he coughed out more blood, "be like me. You never had a choice…"

Kelly shoved him aside just as he spasmed, she had enough of his blood on her hands, both literally and figuratively. He would die alone on the cold, hard ground like he deserved. Kelly thought that she should feel something, anger, relief, happiness, just something but she felt nothing. She felt completely numb to his lifeless body on the ground. She looked at Warden who returned her confused look. They had both had a hand in his death.

They both moved at the same time, but Kelly was faster, tearing the axe from her father's back. She had crossed a line there was no turning back from. Warden wasn't going to go easily and part of Kelly was glad she wouldn't. She wanted blood. Not for her father, but her mom's, her aunt, her cousin. Everyone hurt by Warden's hands. The blade was light in her hand. She had never trained with a weapon like it but it felt right in her hands.

It sliced through Warden's armor like it was paper. Warden howled in pain as I sliced deep into her shoulder. _Good…_ Kelly thought. _I hope it hurts._ She followed up by slicing Warden across the face, completely destroying her mask. More screams of pain followed as Warden clawed at her face blood seeping through her fingers. She glared up at Kelly her eyes no a burning crimson red. Kelly had never seen her face before then. If it were for the fresh cut Kelly had left her with Warden would have been a fairly good looking woman. With sharp angular features and piercing eyes (that Kelly had no idea what they could possibly be naturally). Kelly realized she was older, maybe in her forties but it was hard to tell.

Warden screamed something like a war cry before charging toward Kelly. She never saw it coming, Warden's second axe, long forgotten was back in her hand the two weapons clashed in a shower of sparks.

"I will tear you apart! Limb from fucking limb until there is nothing left of you!"

Kelly lost her grip on her axe as it went clanging to the ground, leaving her weaponless. She knew her armor was useless against the blades her only chance was just to avoid being hit in the first place. Warden was in a rage now, there was no thought between her attacks just blind fury.

"I served her for eighteen goddamned years!" Warden swung at her missing by a hair. "I gave everything to her and then you take her from me!"

When she swung at Kelly her blade got lodged in one of the support pillars. Kelly used the opportunity to break away to grab both her parents and drag them to relative safety. Warden was still struggling when she went to grab Kara. Her aunt was still breathing but was getting worse every passing minute. She barely had her hand on the back of Kara's collar when Warden got her axe free. Kelly ran to get her aunt to safety before returning to the center of the room. There was no way she was escaping without a full-fledged fight with Warden. She needed to find her staff before she ran out of room to navigate. Warden was proving to be a dangerous adversary to face alone.

Warden took the opportunity to retrieve her second axe but was keeping Kelly from her staff. She didn't think her kinetics would be of much use; Warden would be able to counter whatever she did fairly easily even if it was completely chaotic. All Kelly was doing was dodging side to side doing everything she could to keep away from the duel blades.

"What is this Warden?" Kelly teased hoping to throw the brute off guard. "My grandmother has better aim than you."

"What does she see in you?" Warden sounded broken, almost on her last legs. "I stood by her through everything, I fought for her, I killed for her. I freed him for her." She roughly pointed at Donovan's body with her axe. "All of that and it meant nothing…"

Her eyes flashed, burning red again. "At least your death will have some meaning. She won't be able to ignore me with you gone." Warden kicked her staff in her direction, it came to rest at her feet. "Take your weapon, I may not be much of anything but I do have my honor. One of us will die here today."

Kelly picked up her staff, it suddenly felt heavy in her hands. She removed her helmet tossing it aside. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Maggie tending to Alex, trying to get her wife on her feet. Maggie met her gaze screaming something that Kelly refused to hear.

"Alright Warden," Kelly said. "If this is how it has to be, I'll give it to you."

They charged at one another at the safe time. The axe blades caught on her staff, pressing down on her. Kelly pushed up sending Warden into the air, spinning to hit her in the chest with one end of her staff. Warden fell, unable to catch herself. Kelly leapt at her slamming her staff into Warden's face. Warden spit out blood, rolling onto her back before leaping to her feet. The next swing Kelly nearly failed to dodge sliced through her hair. She stumbled giving Warden the advantage over her.

This time when Warden hooked her blade around her staff, pulling Kelly towards her. It was the first time Kelly really noticed how tall Warden was. Kelly was taller than both her mom's but Warden was even taller than her. It was imposing to say the least. While Kelly was trapped Warden brought the other blade up straight through her staff, snapping it in half and sending Kelly to the floor.

She stared at the two halves of her staff for a moment in disbelief. Her grandpa J'onn had said it would never break, apparently he hadn't thought about other worldly battle axes when he said that. She scrambled to get back to her feet just as something hit her wrist. Kelly nearly dropped the piece of staff but kept her grip. She jerked around capturing Warden's arm forcing her to drop one of her weapons. Warden threw her head back slamming the back of her skull into Kelly's face. Kelly grunted in pain stumbling back as more blood started to leak from her nose.

They were both getting tired, neither would last much longer. Warden slammed her knee into Kelly's stomach causing her to drop one of her staff pieces. Kelly shoved her away unable to breathe. She couldn't fight much longer, she was starting to feel the venom in her veins making her weaker the longer they fought. Warden was about to capitalize on her momentary haze and raised her axe when a shot rang out, followed by another and then another. Kelly counted eight shots straight into Warden's back. Warden stared at her for the longest time before falling to her knees in front of Kelly, her axe slipping out of her hand.

Across the room Maggie stood with a gun raised still aimed at where Warden had been standing. The barrel was smoking lightly from the rapid fire of shots. Kelly smiled, unable to stop from laughing, even Maggie let out a chuckle as she dropped the gun, starting towards her daughter. They could get the others out together once she made sure Kelly was alright. She never got the chance. As she was moving forward Warden pushed herself up, catching Kelly completely off guard.

It was the most painful thing Kelly had ever felt. The staff had entered her side just below her ribcage, piercing deep inside of her. It burned like hell, having venom on the tip, transferred from Warden's axe. She looked down at Warden sneering up at her still pressing the staff deeper. Maggie screamed taking off at a sprint to do anything to save her daughter. She never made it. A red spear appeared from nowhere tearing into Maggie's leg stopping her in her tracks.

It was Kelly's turn to scream as she watched her mother fall, blood pooling around her. In her rage she found the strength to return the favor. Warden was too distracted to notice Kelly bring her half of the staff up until it was buried in her abdomen. She groaned as blood started to trickle out of the wound and over Kelly's hand. Both would have collapsed if it weren't for the fact they were supporting each other's weight.

"Looks like you lose…" Kelly said through clenched teeth. She held up a device, one similar to the detonator but smaller. "You underestimated my cousin."

"No…"

Kelly pressed the button. For a second nothing happen then the world exploded in flames. Lori was a blur of red and blue as she swept through the building grabbing both Alex and Kara before disappearing completely. Using what strength she had left Kelly shoved Warden off her hitting her with a right hook that would knock the woman out. She knew she needed to get Maggie out before the whole building came down on top of them. There was no time to remove the staff from her side and a voice in the back of her head was telling her she would only make it worse if she did.

She slowly made her way to Maggie, helping her mother up the best she could, supporting her on her uninjured side. Together they slowly started to escape through the flames, Kelly doing everything possible to keep the flames from reaching Maggie.

"We really need to stop doing shit like this," Maggie murmured sounding weak from the loss of blood.

"I don't know mom," Kelly said forcing herself to smile. "I don't think we know how to do anything else."

XXXXX

Lori nearly dropped her aunt the second they were outside the building. People were running all around them, remaining henchmen that had survived, they didn't even notice Lori or the two injured with her. Alex was more lucid than Kara but was still in pretty bad shape, her arm was resting at a weird angle and looked like it had suffered from multiple fracture. Her mother on the other hand was in really bad shape, for a moment Lori wasn't even sure she was breathing. It was only when Kara weakly grabbed her hand that she knew her mom was still alive. Lori was panicking, she had never seen so much blood in her life, she had no idea what to do. She could feel the effects of kryptonite radiating from her mom and realized that it was imbedded in her ribcage.

"Lori, I need you to set my arm," Alex said from beside her. "I can help her, but I need you to do this."

"I don't know how," Lori said. "And even if you talk me through it I won't I could make it worse."

"Don't argue. Either you do it or I do it," Alex said. "I know it's scary but she will die if you don't do this. Set the bone use my baton as a splint, think you can do that?"

Lori moved next to Alex taking her arm in her hands. Alex dug her wallet out of her pocket biting down on it before nodding to Lori. Her niece did exactly as she had explained manipulating the bone until it shifted back into place. Alex was screaming the whole time, almost passing out because of the pain. She held on for her sister, knowing there was no way Lori would be able to extract the knife blade. Lori tide off the remaining cloth on the makeshift splint.

"Are you okay," Lori asked her concern for her aunt evident.

"Not the most painful thing I have dealt with," Alex said.

Alex held her broken arm close to her chest as she moved over to her sister. Kara was worse than she initially thought. Not only was the Kryptonite slowly killing her, the venom Warden had doused her blades in was keeping Kara from healing. She needed to be at the DEO in the medbay, not lying on the ground outside of a burning building. Alex gently shook Kara to get the woman to look at her. She smiled down at her hoping to distract her long enough to extract the blade.

"Kara, hey do you remember when we were younger, and you got so excited you hugged me super tight," Alex said slowly positioning her hand at the wound site with Lori's guidance. "You broke my rib remember?"

Kara managed a weak smile but didn't have the strength to nod. She remembered, that day had been a good day. It was right after Alex had gone to college, before her spiral into self-destructiveness. She thought Alex was going to murder her but instead her sister had laughed and shared in her joy.

"Well this is payback for that."

The blade was long enough Alex didn't have to dig for it. Kara screamed and nearly broke away but Lori held her down. Alex knew it couldn't be easy for her to see any of this. She was the only one of them who had never actually been in a fight. She had been thrust into the middle of it and Alex couldn't shield her from it. Alex felt the blade at her fingers and grabbed it, pulling it from Kara's chest. She chucked it as hard as she could to get it away from her sister.

Kara groaned but felt the relief of the Kryptonite leaving her system. There was still burning from the venom but it was nowhere near as painful as before. She was still weak, and so tired. She wanted to sleep but she knew Alex would start screaming at her if she did anything as stupid as falling asleep when she was bleeding out.

With Kara out of immediate danger Alex's attention turned to her daughter and wife, neither which she had seen since Lori had pulled them from the building. From the looks of it Lori was thinking the same thing, it was taking Kelly way too long to get out. She would have gone in if it weren't for Alex holding out her arm. Lori looked and saw what Alex was looking at. Kelly was dragging an injured Maggie out of the building. She was also hurt but they had no way to know who was worse. Kelly raised her hand to wave at them, smiling through the blood that soaked her face. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. They may have been hurt but they were all alive. She was so relieved that she didn't even notice the glint of something metallic behind Maggie and Kelly.

"Behind you!" Lori was the first to react, running towards them.

She wasn't fast enough. Kelly shoved Maggie to the side, saving her from the axe that came flying at them. She wasn't so lucky the blade sliced deep into Kelly's leg right at the knee. Kelly screamed in pain falling to the ground as her leg was rendered useless. Warden stood behind her bloodied and smoldering from the flames. She moved towards Kelly with a purpose, grabbing her axe as she stood above Kelly. Lori's body react without her permission. In the blink of an eye she closed the distance between them.

"I don't lose," Warden growled, raising her axe above her head, preparing to kill Kelly.

"Yes you do," Lori shouted as she planted her foot next to her cousin's head.

Warden's axe never met its intended target. Lori hit her in the chest with all her might. She was a Kryptonian, she could have thrown her into the sun, but she settled for the burning building instead.

Alex ran over to them, sliding on her knees when she reached Kelly. Her calm demeanor was replaced with sheer panic. Kelly had multiple wounds, small cuts, she was impaled and her leg. Lori couldn't even look at what remained of her leg. Alex was shaking as she tried to decide what she needed to do first; pack Kelly's wound or get something on her leg to stop the bleeding.

"Lori get Kara to the DEO," Alex said. "Make sure they have medical on the way. Tell Lena to hurry, and not losing them."

Lori didn't argue, the amount of blood she was seeing was making her sick to her stomach. She ran to her mother picking her up before glancing one last time at her cousin and aunts. Part of her felt like she was abandoning her family but she knew there was nothing left for her to do. She wouldn't be able to stomach moving Kelly with the condition she was in. She would just have to hope that they would get help in time.

"Maggie are you okay?"

"Not really," Maggie said tugging off her belt. She needed to make a tourniquet or she would bleed out. "Do you need my belt?"

"No, I've got mine," Alex said. "But I'll need your hands."

Kelly tried to speak but Alex covered her mouth. "Don't even try it, you stay quiet," she ordered. Kelly knew it was because Alex wanted her to save her strength but she really needed to talk. The past hour had been spent in a combat situation she never wanted to find herself in again. She really wanted to talk to her parents. They were both hurt, she wanted to know they were alright.

Maggie cried out in pain as she the tourniquet on her leg just above her knee. If she had it on to long she would lose her leg, that wasn't exactly appealing. Once she had tended to her leg Maggie dragged herself over to Kelly and Alex. She had very little medical training except for being certified in emergency first aid. Alex had way more training, almost that of a combat medic but at the moment with her broken arm and the fact that it was her own daughter needing medical attention. Alex didn't look like she knew where to start. Kelly's wounds ranged from minor to serious, even Maggie wasn't sure what to do but she guessed they should start with her leg.

"Can you get a tourniquet on her leg just about the knee, like yours," Alex directed her once she gained her composure. "Once you've slowly the bleeding I need you to keep pressure around the wound. I need to keep her awake and once you start with her leg I don't know how much longer she'll stay awake."

"This is gonna hurt ain't it," Kelly asked.

"We'll you've nearly died before," Alex said trying to keep her tone light. "I'd say slightly less painful."

Kelly laughed one to groan in pain. The staff in her side was really starting to hurt the longer it was there. Moving only made it worse. She realized a little too late that Alex was using her dark humor to distract her from what Maggie was doing. The sharp pain that radiated from her leg when Maggie pulled tight on the tourniquet was unbelievable. It was a knee-jerk reaction to kick at Maggie which only caused the pain to worsen, whatever happened to her leg was severe.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Maggie said. "Breathe Kel."

"Remember that time, it was when I was like ten or something," Kelly was doing her best to keep them all distracted while they waited. She was sure her cousin wouldn't be returning to help them. "You took me on a trip, Alex was on one of her top secret meeting things…" Kelly waved her hand she couldn't exactly recall why Maggie and her had taken a trip out of town.

She could hear Maggie smiling. It had been a weird weekend, Kelly had still been getting used to having people who cared. Maggie had still been learning how to be a mom. It had been four years but going from never wanting kids to having one that was ten was a huge leap. It was one of their favorite memories because it was one only the two of them had.

"We ended up staying in the hotel all weekend because it was too damned cold to go outside," Maggie said, moving to apply the pressure Alex had asked for. "I've never watched so many movies in two days."

Kelly groaned blinking a few times. She had dealt with extreme pain before. When she was sixteen and nearly died the pain she had been in had been horrible. So horrible she had been placed into a coma. This was painful but nothing compared to what that had been. Maybe telling this story would distract her from the pain the fact that all she wanted to do was pass out. Alex had never heard it before. Maggie had made her promise she never talk about it to Alex, it was supposed to be their thing. Their solitary moment to share.

"Mom started talking in the middle of Alien, something you never do," Kelly prefaced smiling up at Alex, knowing her mom would remember how cranky she use to get when Alex would disturb her watching her favorite movie. "It was the first time she admitted to me that she never wanted kids."

"And it was the first time I realized how smart our daughter was," Maggie said, he was starting to feel extremely weak but she knew Kelly's situation was the more important one.

"What did she say?" Alex was genuinely curious. She had never heard about any of this. She had known Maggie had taken Kelly out of town for some, what Maggie called 'bonding' but they never talked about it.

"I told her, 'doesn't matter now, you've already signed the paperwork, you have to like me it's your job'." Kelly laughed again, it hurt less now but her vision was starting to go dark and she was starting to not feel her legs.

"Then she told me to be quiet because I was ruining the movie."

"Shoulda…picked a better time t-to talk…" Kelly was quickly losing the ability to fight off her fatigue, even next to the burning flames of the building the world was getting darker and colder.

Her slurred speech startled Alex. Her daughter was still losing a lot of blood and she couldn't even hear the ambulances. She was starting to wonder is Lena had even sent any. Even Maggie was starting to struggle to stay awake. She had been bleeding for much longer than Kelly, it was really a miracle that she was still as lucid as she was. Alex shifted so she could support Kelly's head, she didn't like the idea of her daughter lying in the dirt. Kelly stopped her, grabbing her arm but when she spoke it was directed at Maggie.

"S'ok…you can stop," she said. "Lena isn't gonna abandon us."

Maggid hesitated, she knew that she needed to keep the pressure on and that Kelly was feeling the effects of the blood loss. Or she thought she was because Kelly reached down forcing Maggie's hands away from the wound. Alex realized Kelly wasn't going to let her do anything more to help (though if Alex pushed Kelly would have no choice). She moved over to Maggie who didn't argue when Alex forced her to lie down. Kelly reached back to take Alex's hand, she would never admit it to them but she was scared. She wished that she was warmer, even the venom wasn't burning any more it was now just a dull throbbing throughout her body.

"Kel?" Maggie turned her head to look at her daughter. "What were you talking about with Warden about your cousin?"

Kelly held up the device she still had in her hand. "I told her to wait for my signal. Don't think anyone realized I was actually just calling someone." Alex was the one who started laughing this time. Warden had never expected the youngest of the Danvers family to be there, let alone be the one to destroy the building. Kelly had used her device as a quick distraction, while also calling for back up. It was brilliant.

"Grandpa should be here any minute."

J'onn had been away for over a month having gone to Mars to meet with the White Martians and M'gann M'orzz to discuss relations. He had given Alex the device Kelly had in case there was an emergency they just couldn't handle. Alex hadn't even thought about calling him back, but now she was wishing she had. They could really use him since it didn't look like anyone else was coming.

"Maggie are your comms still working?"

"I think so…" Maggie wasn't sure she hadn't tried to use them since storming the building with Alex.

"Try to raise Lena," Alex said. "See what's taking so long."

"Lena, you there?"

Maggie waited for what felt like an hour before her earpiece came to life. "I am, sort of, ambulances are on their way but there's been a delay." It wasn't the news that Maggie wanted to hear but at least it meant someone was coming. "Car accident about a mile from your position, ETA forty minutes?"

"Forty?" Maggie repeated. "Kelly won't make it forty, neither will I."

"We'll get to you Maggie," Lena said. "I promise."

Alex shook her head glancing at Kelly. She was doing her best to stay awake she was clearly losing the battle. Maggie was right, neither of them would make it forty minutes. Their only hope was J'onn but with each passing moment it seemed like he wouldn't make it.

"Look," Kelly was weakly pointing to something in the distance, but Alex could barely understand her. "I told you he'd be…"

The hand Kelly had been holding Alex's with went limp. Alex shook her daughter trying to get her to wake back up but she didn't respond. It was only a slight relief that she was still breathing.

"Perhaps I should take her?"

Alex glancing up and realized what Kelly was talking about. J'onn kneeled down between Kelly and Maggie smiling at the woman who had quickly become like a daughter to him.

"I'm sorry it took so long, I had to clear the road," he said. "I'll take Kelly, it will be faster than waiting. Will the two of you be okay until the ambulance gets here?"

"How far are they?"

"Five minutes."

"Keep her safe?"

"Of course."

J'onn carefully gathered Kelly in his arms, careful not to touch the staff in her side. Kelly was completely unresponsive and her breathing was beginning to get shallow. He hoped he hadn't been too late.

When J'onn and Kelly were gone Alex pulled Maggie closer to her. The bleeding from her leg had almost completely stopped but the tourniquet had been on for a while, much longer and she would lose function in her leg. Maggie smiled up at her.

"I think we need to rethink what we consider dates," she said jokingly.

"Oh is that what this is?" Alex decided it was best to play along. "Pray tell, what would you rather do on a date?"

"Stay home, curl up on the couch, watch a movie," Maggie said before laughing. "Remind my wife how good I am in bed?"

Alex snorted sending a waves of pain through her arm. "I don't need reminding Maggie," she said glad that Maggie was still trying to make her laugh. "It has been a hot minute hasn't it."

"You would think with Kelly out of the house it would be easier," Maggie agreed. "But no she has to be like your sister, dropping by unannounced at all hours of the day."

"At least we have a good relationship with her," Alex said. "I know neither of us had the greatest relationships with our parents."

Maggie fell silent. She definitely had to agree with that, not that she had wanted a relationship with her parents after everything they did to her. She was just glad that Alex had been willing to take her back, to try again and let Maggie be a part of her family.

"Thank you Alex, for everything," Maggie said. "You and Kel are the best things to ever happen to me."

Alex smiled, brushing the hair out of Maggie's face. "I love you, Maggie Sawyer, I always will."

"You too," Maggie said. "I think I hear sirens."

Alex nodded, she could hear them too. "Think you can walk?" She figured they should at least try to help the ambulance find them.

Maggie nodded, "if you help me." Alex maneuvered Maggie off her lap in order to stand up. It took some doing because of her broken arm but she eventually got Maggie to her feet. Together the two of them headed towards the access road the EMT's would be arriving on. It was slow going because Maggie was dragging her one leg and Alex was exhausted but they made it to a clearing just as the first red and white vehicle pulled up. The first EMT out of the bus was one Alex new a friendly guy named Dylan.

"Never a dull day with you Danvers girls," he said helping another medic Alex didn't know get the stretcher out of the bus.

"Someone has to keep you guys in business," Alex was glad he was in his usual chipper mood.

Dylan took Maggie from Alex shoulder and with the help of the other medic lifted her onto the stretcher. Maggie didn't argue allowing the two men to do their jobs, a rare occurrence for her.

"You riding with? I can look at your arm while we go?" Dylan said ignoring the other medic furiously shaking his head. Apparently he had heard just how difficult of a patient Alex was.

"I'm not leaving her," Alex said.

"Hop in," Dylan said as he helped load Maggie into the bus before offering his hand to Alex. "Alright boys, let's go."

Alex felt a wave of relief. Things were far from over, agents still needed to comb the ruins for the bodies of Donovan, Warden and Thorul. Maggie and Kelly weren't out of the woods either. Both would need surgery and Alex was sure they might recommend her for surgery as well since Lori set her broken bones.

The bus lurched forward as it started moving, taking them away from one of Alex's biggest failures. Maggie reached out searching for Alex's good hand. Her wife gave it to her smiling to herself. She had no idea what the actual number of casualties were but as long as none of them were her family…no that wasn't true she just wouldn't be able to mourn them until Kelly and Maggie were in the clear.

"We did it Mags," Alex said.

"I think Kel should have most the credit," Maggie muttered. "If not for her the three of us would be dead."

"I'll bake her a cake."

"Please don't," Maggie chuckled. "I don't think I could handle a fire in our kitchen right now."

Alex smiled, maybe they would be okay. Maybe.

XXXXX

Lena had found herself wishing that the DEO had spent a little more of their budget on chairs. She was standing next to Kara's bedside waiting for her wife to wake up. So far Kara and Alex were the only ones in stable condition. J'onn had brought Kelly to the DEO only a few minutes ago and she had immediately been rushed to surgery. Not long after she had gotten confirmation that Alex and Maggie had been picked up and were on the way to the hospital. Lori had gone with J'onn. Her daughter was shaken from the events she had witnessed and Lena thought that maybe talking to J'onn would help.

"Lena?"

She looked down to see piercing blue eyes looking up at her. Kara was reaching for her hand which Lena immediately gave her.

"Shh, darling you're safe," Lena did her best to soothe her wife the second she realized Kara was about to panic. "You're at the DEO."

Kara pulled on Lena's arm, careful not to hurt her, but hard enough to force Lena to join her on the cot. She couldn't keep herself from crying. Kara had been so sure she was going to die in that building. The pain had been intense but nowhere near as intolerable as the pain of knowing she would never see Lena or Lori again. The only comfort she had as she felt her life slowly slipping away was that she had been able to hug her family one last time.

"I'm so sorry," Kara sobbed into Lena's shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry."

Lena held Kara as close to her as she could manage, rubbing circles on her back. The last time Lena had seen Kara this broken was right after Lori was born. She had been terrified about failing her daughter and her wife Lena had wondered if she was suffering from PTSD from losing her family again. It had been a strange experience, it had been one of the happiest days of their lives and Kara had fallen to her knees, shaking in tears because she wasn't sure she was capable of raising their daughter. She had been proven completely wrong but today proved that even the Girl of Steel wasn't invincible. Kara knew what it was like to lose her family and her daughter had nearly suffered the same loss, even if it would have been on a smaller scale.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Lena assured her. "You fought like hell, we just couldn't foresee every possibility. And you're here, alive because of how resilient you are. And I love you so much."

Kara nodded into her shoulder, unable to bring herself to look at Lena. She had gone down faster than both Maggie and Alex. She had every advantage and had still lost, but there was Lena telling her that she had done nothing wrong.

"Is Lori okay?" Kara asked suddenly. "Where is she?"

"Easy my love," Lena said. "Lori is relatively fine, she's with J'onn right now."

"She's not hurt is she?" Kara vaguely remembered holding Lori's hand at one point but wasn't sure if she had been hallucinating or not.

"No. She's the only one of you to actually come out of that building without a scratch," Lena said. "However she is grounded until she's thirty so take that as you may."

"Good," Kara said. "But I think thirty is too lenient."

"We can make it fifty."

"What about the others?" Kara finally pulled far enough away to look Lena in the eye. "My sister? Kelly? What happened?"

Lena sighed. She should have known Kara wouldn't be able to focus on herself for very long.

"Alex suffered minor injuries, a broken arm and some bruises. Maggie has a severe puncture wound to her left leg just below the knee, she's in surgery but is expect to be alright," Lena stopped herself before she got to Kelly. She wasn't sure her wife needed to hear about her niece at the moment.

Of course Kara didn't let her pause go unnoticed. "Lena, what about Kelly?" She remembered hearing Kelly enter the fray but couldn't recall anything about what had happened. The entire time she had been in and out of consciousness.

"Kelly lost a lot of blood from a puncture wound to her abdomen," Lena said with a loud sigh. She couldn't believe she was telling Kara this. "The staff had traces of the alien venom she fought earlier this month making her healing factor virtually useless. And well… she suffered severe trauma to her right leg, it was nearly amputated at the scene, again her healing factor didn't kick in. She's in surgery but her condition is still critical. We aren't sure whether or not she'll pull through."

It was a stark reality but it was what they were facing. Kelly always seemed to be the one getting into the worst of trouble. It seem unfair and unbelievable but to Lena it was the only reasonable outcome. Lena had always been the one to put herself in harm's way to protect her family, even though both her wife and daughter we tough as steel. She couldn't count the time since Lori was born that she had put herself in a situation she should have died in. All because her wife was a hero and people still saw her as one of the bad guys. Kelly was the same, she felt she owed her family with her life because without them she would have been something else. Possibly the exact same thing Thorul had wanted her to be.

Kelly owed her sense of self – that selflessness all of the Danvers women had – to Alex and Maggie. It wouldn't have mattered what the outcome was likely to be. Kelly would have put herself in harm's way because it was the right thing to do. Lena was aware her own daughter would eventually be the same way as her cousin, her aunts and her mom. None of them would ever be capable of walking away because that just wasn't who they were as individuals.

"I need to see my sister."

"No, you need to rest. I'll keep tabs on everyone."

"Lena…"

"Don't argue with me, you won't win, not this time." Lena untangled herself from Kara trying her best not to wrinkle her clothes but failing. "I'm going to get your daughter and J'onn to keep an eye on you."

"That isn't fair."

Lena leaned down so her lips brushed against Kara's. "You job is done my love, let me do mine." Kara wanted to argue but Lena pressed her lips against hers stopping the words on Kara's tongue.

"I don't say it enough, but I love you. Now rest, please."

Kara nodded, already missing Lena's warmth. "I love you too." _And I'm so proud of you…_ She couldn't say all she was thinking just yet. But she would once everyone was stable. Lena would just have to wait to learn just how important she was to all of them. Kara was sure her wife already knew. She had always been proud of Lena, but in that moment nothing compared. She watched Lena leave, her heart aching to be walking next to her. They had won but at a cost. But they never would have made it that far without her. Kelly may have been the hero everyone talked about, but Lena was the only reason they had all survived.


	21. Chapter 21

**We've got one more to go. I'll have it up by the 15****th****. Not much I want to say, but everyone stay healthy, thanks for reading, let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 21

The death toll had been higher than they had hoped. Out of twenty-four agents, fifteen had returned with injuries ranging from minor or critical. Eight hadn't returned at all and only two of them had no injuries but a life time of trauma. It would be recorded as one of the worst days in DEO history, as one of the smallest but most deadly operations. A recovery team had been sent in to bring home the bodies of the agents who hadn't made it and to search for Donovan and the others to confirm that they were gone.

The recovery had been made difficult because if the smoldering remains of the Cadmus facility partially collapsing after the initial explosions. They had needed to dig through the rubble but eventually they found the body of Miles Donovan and confirmed he had died from a deep laceration to his back caused by an axe. They were still searching for Warden and Thorul but so far the search had turned up empty.

Lena turned the broken helmet over in her hands. The teams had recovered Kelly's helmet from the ruins not far from Donovan's body and had brought it to Lena. Her niece had been lucky that the helmet had withstood as much damage as it had before breaking. If the integrity of the metal had been compromised in any way she would have been dead. She sighed setting the helmet down, she needed to get over to the hospital to speak with Alex. Her sister-in-law had a decision to make and Lena didn't want to give her the details over the phone.

"You want to do what with my daughter?" Alex thought Lena had been joking when she had first approached her, now she realized Lena was just insane.

"Alex the damage to her leg was irreversible because of the venom, something needs to be done and it would be better to do it now than to wait."

Lena had explained to her that the venom Warden had been using was actually more potent than that extracted from the alien. It had caused the Haranel in Kelly's veins to become virtually useless. Her daughter lost her leg because her body just couldn't heal faster than the venom spread.

"It's still in the testing phase but results have been promising, so far there hasn't been a single rejection."

Alex sighed. She was aware of the work Lena had been doing in the field of prosthetics, having gaining inspiration from her brother and Lillian after seeing the work they had put into Hank Henshaw and Jeramiah. Of course Lena was doing it for the good of people, ensuring amputees, or people with deformities, could get top of the line prosthetics for next to nothing. It wouldn't hurt her company at all though some members of the board were pissed about it.

"It's not my decision," Alex said.

"Well as long as she is incapacitated you are her next of kin, so actually it is," Lena reminded her. "Look Alex not only would Kelly be the perfect candidate to see how prosthetic integration reacts to meta-human physiology, she's your daughter. I think it would be less traumatic for her if we do the surgery now."

She should wait to ask Maggie what her opinion was but her wife was resting and Alex didn't want to bother her. Alex didn't think Kelly would be against it, but wasn't sure how her daughter would react to it when she finally woke up. She couldn't come up with a single reason not to allow Lena to go ahead with it except that Kelly would have no say in the decision. That wasn't any reason to put it off and risk it not working later on. Lena's reasoning was sound, with Kelly's system compromised surgery would be a lot easier than it would be when she was back to normal.

"Do it," Alex said. "You have my permission."

"I'll get the ball rolling right away," Lena said her phone already in hand. She would want to be there to oversee the operation to make sure everything went smoothly. "Give Maggie my best will you?"

She watched Lena leave before she went back to Maggie's bedside. Her arm was beginning to hurt again her pain medication having worn off. She was tempted to take another but thought better of it, she could wait until Maggie woke up. Alex pulled her chair closer to Maggie's bedside planning on taking a short nap. She was still worried about Kelly but her daughter was out of any immediate trouble. Both surgeries had gone on without a hitch, now she just had to wait for Lena to finish with her. Alex probably wouldn't see her daughter until the morning.

"You sure you want to sleep in the chair?" Maggie sounded groggy from the morphine she had been given. "I can scoot over."

Alex lifted her casted arm and shook her head. "To bulky, won't be comfortable." Maggie frowned, which made Alex sigh. She meant it wouldn't be comfortable for Maggie not for her. Her wife was adorable when she started pouting and Alex didn't have the energy to argue. She climbed into the bed next to Maggie, careful not to jostle Maggie's leg. Maggie turned to she could drape her arm over Alex and pull her closer.

"You smell good," Maggie murmured into Alex's shoulder.

"I think the morphine is getting to you, because I still haven't gotten a shower," Alex said resting her chin on Maggie's head.

"No…always smell good."

Alex chuckled, her wife was cute when she was groggy and even more so now. She was relieved to have this time alone with Maggie. They had nearly lost each other and being able to just forget about everything for a short period of time just to be with one another was everything. Alex still worried, she wasn't forgetting about her daughter but there was nothing she could do at the moment. Maggie had already fallen back to sleep and was snoring lightly leaving Alex alone with her thoughts. But even those were running away from her as her exhaustion hit her hard. A short nap wasn't going to hurt her and it seemed like the best course of action. She hadn't slept in over 24 hours and then might be her only chance for a while.

XXXXX

Lori glared at her mother which only made Kara laugh harder. Her daughter was so much like Lena it actually hurt. Lori didn't find it amusing that Kara would laugh at her just because she and Lena had some similarities.

"It's not funny," Lori whined. "I get hungry when I'm stressed."

"Well I'm hungry too," Kara said as an excuse for her laughing. "You could always go get us something to eat?"

"So you can run off and get me in trouble with mom?" Lori crossed her arms giving her a look that was exactly the same as the one Lena gave her when she wasn't amused. "No thank you."

Both Kara and Lori's stomach's growled in response causing both of them to groan. Lori really was hungry, she hadn't eaten since being attack in her parent's house. She had burned a lot of energy helping Kelly and didn't think she would make it much longer without eating. Lori would kill for a burger and fries.

"Fine, I'll go but you have to stay here."

"Please bring pot stickers."

Lori nodded speeding out the door only to run face first into someone. Had it been an agent they would have been on the ground or buried in a wall, but the person didn't budge. When Lori looked up to apologize she realized it was her grandpa J'onn. He looked down at her, his eyebrow raised in question.

"Where do you think you're off to little Danvers?"

"I was um…mom was – I uh…" Lori kept pointing behind her suddenly forgetting how to articulate words. "Mom was hungry…I was uh gonna get her food."

"Well then it's a good thing I caught you before Lena did," J'onn said holding up a bag of food that Lori realized were pot stickers. "I assumed she would start bothering anyone who would listen to get her food."

Her stomach growled again, betraying her. She thought J'onn would tell her to go get herself something to eat but her grandpa only laughed. He patted her on the head before showing her the second bag he was holding from Big Belly Burger. "And I got something for you too," he said with a big smile. Lori squealed jumping up to hug him. He almost dropped her because he hadn't been expecting it but quickly adjusted.

"You are the greatest grandpa ever," she said, dropping back to the floor. She took J'onn's hand to drag him back into the room. "Mom, Grandpa J'onn already got us food."

Kara crossed the room in a second, stealing her bag of food from J'onn's hand. She nearly ran away with it too before she stopped to turn around and hug him. When she was hungry she sometimes forgot her manners. J'onn knew this but as the man who had become a surrogate father to both her and her sister she needed to be better about thanking him. She went back over to her cot, leaving room for both Lori and J'onn to join her.

"Any word on Kelly?" Lena had refused to say anything claiming that Kara needed to focus on healing before worrying about anyone else.

"Still in surgery," J'onn said. "And no I'm not giving you any more than that."

"Lena spoke to you then?"

"She did," J'onn admitted. "But she's right the two of you don't need to worry about Kelly. She's strong, she'll make it through this. None of my girls are quitters."

XXXXX

Kelly thought she was dead. She had no control over her body, she felt no pain and she couldn't remember what had happened to her. She remembered talking to Sara but nothing after that. She couldn't open her eyes which meant one of two things she was in another coma or she was dead. None of it meant sense to her, what had she done to end up there? She needed to wake up. If she woke up she would remember. If she could remember she could make her body respond to her. There was something else. Something that was making her tired. Her eyelids drooped, which was confusing because she couldn't open her eyes. Why was she tired? She tried to shake her head. She needed to wake up. She need to…wake…up…

_ She opened her eyes to a scene that played out years ago. Next to her, completely ignoring her, was Alex. She was frustrated or angry, Kelly couldn't exactly remember what kind of mood her mother was in that night, but she remembered that Alex had been arguing with Kara. Her aunt had been mad about something, something that was important but now it wasn't. What had they been fighting about?_

"_You can't marry her," Kara had only raised her voice for a second before Alex shushed her, reminding her sister there was a five year old asleep down the hall._

_ Maggie, they had been fighting about Maggie. Kelly had woken up from a nightmare and had went to find Alex only to overhear her adoptive mother arguing with her aunt. Had her aunt been their when Alex put her down for bed? Kelly didn't exactly remember but she didn't think so. Kara must have come over after Alex had read her a bed time story. Kelly had liked that Alex did that, her dad had never read to her. Not ever._

"_Kara she's not going to leave again," Alex said. "And I don't appreciate my sister telling me what I can't do. Especially with your wife's history."_

"_Harsh Alex," Kara said crossing her arms. "I'm just asking why would you marry someone you explicitly broke up with because she didn't want kids."_

"_Don't you think I've thought of that?" Alex grabbed a beer, thought better of it and set it aside. "Maggie has changed and she is great with Kelly. You'll see, Maggie isn't leaving again."_

_ Kelly didn't even realize she was standing directly next to her younger self, clutching at a stuffed animal. She barely remembered having interrupted the fight between her aunt and mom but when she looked her Alex had gone silent having realized Kelly was awake._

"_Something wrong sweetie?" she asked coming over to the young girl._

"_I had a bad dream…"_

_ Alex glared at her sister, telling her it was time for her to leave. Kara sighed but took Alex's silent warning and left. Alex went over to the young Kelly and picked her up. Kelly watched her mom walk down the hall with her younger self. She remembered Alex had fallen asleep in her room after reading another story. Kelly had woken up later when Maggie came home from work and join her soon to be wife and daughter on the already cramped bed. _

_ Kelly sighed. It was nice to relive this moment but she needed to get back. She didn't know what she needed to get back to but it wasn't here. She left out the front door, not sure where she was leaving too but hoping it would be where she needed to be._

"What do you mean she's not waking up?" Lena had the doctor against the wall, his incompetence was starting to really piss her off. "How much anesthesia did you give her?"

"The recommended amount for someone with her particular abilities," he said.

"You moron," Lena shouted. "The Haranel in her system isn't active she's probably in a coma."

"Why isn't it active?"

"The venom you idiot," Lena said. "How are you a doctor?"

Lena shook her head and backed away from the man. It didn't matter, he could explain the situation to Alex because she sure as hell wasn't. The good news was as soon as the venom worked its way out of her system she would start to metabolize at her quickened rate and be out of the coma in a few hours. Well not really a coma more like a deep sleep because an idiot was in charge of her surgery

"Just finish the preparations for her transfer," Lena said shoving the clipboard into his hands. "Then you can call Director Danvers and explain exactly what happened."

_ It wasn't like Kelly didn't think about the moments she had had with her family in some capacity. There were moments where should couldn't help but think about how different things were when she was eight of fifteen. Reliving them was weird though. Maybe it was just the way her brain was coping with whatever was happening to her. Maybe once her body adjusted to whatever trauma put her there she would be home? Was she supposed to be home?_

"_I'm not taking the promotion," Maggie was saying while she moved around the kitchen. _

_ Kelly was watching herself sit out the counter, she looked about fifteen so it was before she was hospitalized. Her hair had been a lot longer back then, she was glad her parents let her cut it. She looked ridiculous. _

"_I think you should, Captain Maggie Sawyer-Danvers, has a nice ring to it," Kelly said snatching another tomato slice when her mom wasn't looking._

"_A nice ring and a shit-load of paperwork," Maggie said smacking her hand away when she tried to steal another tomato. "All that position does is deal with politics, I hate politics."_

"_Yes but you could lead the division in the direction you want it to go," Kelly managed to snatch another tomato before Maggie moved them completely out of her reach. "Don't you want that?"_

_ Kelly remembered the conversation, Maggie had been offered the position after her acting captain stepped down after some back blow from a not-so-well thought out thing that Kelly still had no information about. Maggie had turned it down and had been stuck as a Lieutenant since then. At least she was happy, she had never like sitting at a desk._

"_I swear to Rao Kelly if you don't stop stealing the tomatoes," Maggie warned as Kelly tried to sneak around her to take the entire cutting board. "You can't be that hungry."_

"_I just like tomatoes."_

"_Wait until dinner."_

_ It had been one of those moments that stuck out to Kelly. Just the ease of how well Maggie handled her. Just how easily the two of them bonded. Kelly loved both of her parents but something about Maggie made it easier for Kelly to go to her to talk. She had a reason for that, one she had ever only told Maggie about because she didn't think Alex would understand. She had already shouldered enough of Kelly's trauma, she didn't need to shoulder anything more._

"_Can I ask you something mom?"_

"_Only if you stop eating the tomatoes," Maggie said but with a teasing smile._

_ Her younger self shifted her weight from on foot to the other. "I wanted to um…change my um name." Maggie nearly dropped the knife she was holding. Kelly panicked backing away from Maggie, misinterpreting her surprise as anger. Maggie held up her hands trying to defuse the situation that was about to start._

"_Sorry, sorry," Maggie said. "It's okay. Why do you want to change your name?"_

"_Well not exactly change it. I just don't think I should only be Kelly Danvers," she said. She had been wanting to ask her parents about this for months but had never found the right time. "I mean you're my mom too, I may not make it my last name but maybe I could just be Kelly Sawyer Danvers, y'know?"_

_ Maggie had always given great hugs. She squeezed so tightly that before the Haranel it actually hurt. Kelly remembered how happy Maggie had been after that, and how Alex had started crying because it was 'so sweet'. Kelly had been a bit embarrassed by her parent's reactions but had been glad they were happy to fulfill that particular request. Kelly smiled to herself. She should move on to whatever memory was next. Maybe if she kept jumping around something would jostle free and she would wake up._

Kelly panicked when she opened her eyes into the most blinding white light. Maybe she really was dead and that light at the end of the tunnel was just an absolute dick move. Then she sat up and felt a burning pain in her side. Her eyes hadn't adjusted to the light but she felt hands on her shoulders pushing her back down.

"Easy there Kel, you'll tear your stitches."

"Grandpa?" Kelly rubbed her eyes, J'onn finally coming into focus. "You definitely aren't my mom."

J'onn was gone as soon as he had appeared, replaced with Alex's form. "Better?" Kelly shook her head, she really hated when he would shapeshift. It always made her wonder whether or not her mom had actually missed one of her games and sent J'onn instead.

"Please don't do that," Kelly said, "It's giving me whiplash."

She blinked and J'onn was next to her again. He set the book he was holding aside so he could move closer to her bedside. Kelly had never met her actual grandfather, but Alex always talked about him. J'onn spoke about him on occasion but Kelly didn't know him so he would never really be her grandpa, J'onn was the only one who would have that title.

"So where is my mom?" Kelly was curious, she had expected her mom to be around. "I mean I'm in the hospital, last time this happened she refused to leave."

"She's with Maggie," J'onn said. "Both of them are alright, Maggie is just on strict bed rest for the rest of the week."

Kelly chuckled, it was just like her parents to refuse to leave one another's side. She couldn't really blame them, the past month had been rough for all of them. It was good the two of them were spending some time alone, even if it was in a hospital. She would have asked about her aunt but if something had happened to her J'onn would have already said something. At least everyone was alright.

"So how bad is it?" She already knew her side was pretty bad but she was starting to remember her leg had taken a bad hit.

"Perhaps we should wait for Alex," J'onn suggested, shifting uncomfortably.

"Grandpa I could just throw this blanket on the floor and find out for myself," Kelly reminded him. "Or you could tell me."

"They didn't have a choice Kel, I'm sorry," J'onn said reluctantly. "Lena made sure you receive the best care. You'll be back to being a thorn in the DEO's side in a few a months."

"Oh…ok…" Kelly said her chest tightening. "Gramps, how strong are the painkillers they're giving me?"

"Don't worry," he said. "You'll really start feeling it in a day or two."

Kelly nodded feeling the panic start to creep up on her. Every one responded differently to trauma, screaming, fighting, complete and utter denial. Kelly had always had a hard time expressing her feeling, she just didn't know how to articulate herself. Part of her wanted to jump out of a window. She could never get past J'onn. Quiet panic, Kelly was really good at quiet panic. J'onn tapped her on the forehead with the book he had with him.

"There are going to be days that are very hard on you," he said. "But you aren't alone, you have us."

"What book are you reading?" Kelly asked, wanting to turn attention away from the recovery she was facing.

J'onn held it up with a small smile. Kelly face palmed shaking her head to the point it hurt her side. She knew exactly why he brought that particular book and even though she was hard to embarrass she was extremely embarrassed. J'onn was laughing at her expense, he always loved embarrassing his two granddaughters. Though Lori was much more difficult to embarrass.

"Grandpa, I haven't read that since I was like ten," Kelly said.

"It was the only book I had that you use to like," J'onn said sounding a little disappointed.

"You could have brought a criminology book for me," Kelly said. "But since you brought it, I think I could deal with some Nancy Drew."

That seemed to make J'onn happy, but Kelly snatched the book from his hands. "I don't think so old man, if I have to suffer through this I'm reading it to you." J'onn crossed his arms, pretending to pout but Kelly knew he was alright with it. He hadn't read to her since she was a little kid, he could deal with her reading to him if it got her mind off of her injuries. He just was happy all his girls were safe, he had already lost his family once. It would have been more than he could handle if he had returned to Earth only to learn they had all died. Kelly had been smart to call for him. They always made him proud.

XXXXX

Alex's side was hurting from laughing so hard. Maggie had started to feel better as they slowly moved her off her pain medications. She was currently telling Alex about a horrible miscommunication regarding a guy in the men's locker room when she was in college. Apparently one of her friends had asked her boyfriend to play a little prank on Maggie which had led to Maggie making a few rather snide comments about the male form. Alex hadn't heard much about Maggie's college years but she had some good stories which Alex wished she was more open to sharing.

"Why would you say that to him?" Alex could not believe her wife could be so cruel.

"Because I didn't want to be in there but I needed to get my phone!" Maggie laughed. "What should I have said?"

"Nothing you should have run," Alex said. "I wouldn't have stood in a men's locker room and completely destroyed a man because my friend decided to be a jerk."

"Eh the guy I said it too was a jerk too, he kinda deserved it."

"Who deserved what?"

Alex and Maggie turned to see Kelly rolling into the room in a wheelchair, she had somehow managed to get out of her hospital gown and into sweatpants but Alex could see the bandaged from her wounds that hadn't quite healed yet. One of her feet was bare bringing attention to the silver toes that flexed every couple of seconds. Kelly smiled at them making her way over to their side. Alex was up in a second hugging Kelly close. She had spent a few hours with Kelly the day before but had been trading off with the others in the family. She hadn't realized Kelly was coming around so quickly that they had taken her off of bed rest before Maggie.

"Never mind, boring story anyway," Maggie said waving it off. "Who let you out of bed? Better question who gave you pants?"

"Aunt Lena, for being a good patient who actually listens to the doctor," Kelly said with a huge grin. "So, you gonna need a walker? You are getting old."

Maggie hit her in the shoulder. "Watch it you lady, still your mother." Kelly laughed shoving Maggie back. She was glad to see both of her parents were doing alright and were laughing. Neither of them seem to be hurting that much (and the only reason she wasn't currently screaming in pain was because of the amount of drugs she was on). Lena had told her the pain would go away in a few months but there were always phantom pains she would have to deal with.

"And what about you Director Danvers?" Kelly decided to turn her jabs at her. "Two separate fractures, starting to have brittle bones? Should I be looking at nursing homes?"

"We could throw her out the window," Alex suggested.

"I'll get her legs."

"Woah, woah, woah, you wouldn't do anything to your defenseless daughter now would you?" Kelly said pushing herself back towards the door. "I was stabbed and someone let aunt Lena cut off my leg, I think I deserve to make fun of you."

Alex hugged her again still laughing. She loved seeing everyone in a good mood. It had been so long since all of them had been in one room and happy. There was no arguing or uncomfortable silence. It was just the three of them enjoying each other's presence. Kelly knew it was about to be better, she could hear her cousin talking excitedly down the hall. Lori was the only one Kelly had yet to see since the raid and was glad she was finally visiting.

Lori burst into the room thrusting a bag of food in Kelly's direction. "Drop whatever you are doing we brought food." Kelly nearly fell out of her wheelchair trying to grab the bag of food from Lori. She was starving having not eaten anything but hospital food since she had woken up a couple days prior. Lori stuck her tongue out at her cousin holding the bag out of her reach.

"Say please."

"Give me the food."

"Lori let your cousin eat," Lena said, taking the bag of food from Lori and handing it to Kelly. "Burger is yours."

"Have I told you you're my favorite aunt, cause you are," Kelly said digging for her burger before handing the bag to Maggie.

Kara's shoulders dropped, "What about me?" She was pouting, probably because Kelly did tend to show favoritism towards Lena. It wasn't that she actually liked one over the other it was mostly because she worked for Lena, she spent a lot of time around Lena. Now more than ever she was spending more time with Lena because Lena was overseeing her recovery. Kelly thought it had something to do with Alex strongly asking for Lena to oversee everything as some weird sort of pay back for cutting off Kelly's leg.

"I'm going to need to look at your leg," Lena said.

"Can we do that after I eat, it always hurts when you mess around with it."

Kelly had never liked being poked and prodded it made her feel like a science experiment. Alex had run tests on her after the incident when she was sixteen to ensure that she was still healthy and that the Haranel in her blood was doing its job. She wished the testing would stop. In five years she had never had one incident and yet Alex still ran tests. Lena liked to do a lot of poking and prodded to, she tended to be a little more aggressive, it always hurt when she would manipulate Kelly's new leg.

"Alright for the next two weeks no one is allowed to talk about work or anything that has happened in the past month," Alex said. "Everyone should be focused on recovery."

"Boo," Kelly threw a wadded up napkin at Alex. "What a killjoy."

"No Alex is right," Maggie said. "We've been through hell, we all deserve a break."

"How about a party?" Lori suggested. "Uncle James and aunt Nia will be back in town this weekend, why don't we have the Super fam together?"

"I for one love parties," Kelly said wheeling back to purposely run over Lori's foot. "The kid has a good idea."

"Great idea but they'll be busy with the DEO," Alex said. "Besides you, kid, need to focus on physical therapy."

"Killjoy," Kelly said narrowly avoiding Lori trying to slap the back of her head. "Always a kill joy. Lori wheel me out."

"Wheel yourself out," Lori said crossing her arms. "Your arms work just fine."

"But my side hurts," Kelly whined. "And the adults are giving us that look."

Lori had noticed Kara giving her that side eye she usually did when Lori wasn't supposed to hear something. She knew this was about Warden and knew she needed to remove Kelly from the room. Lori didn't know what the deal was with Warden, nothing had been said about the Kinetic since the fight. Donovan was dead, his body was in the morgue at the DEO. Thorul was in the wind, probably having escaped back to her Earth. Kelly didn't need to hear that the only victory they knew they have was that her father was dead.

Kara watched silently as Lori wheeled Kelly out of Maggie's hospital room. The two were bickering like they were sisters. Kara had always loved how close her daughter was to her niece. She wished her relationship with Clark had been that close but then again when she had seen Clark again after the death of Krypton he was already Superman. He had grown up without her, Kelly and Lori had grown up together.

"They're gone," Kara said once she realized they were far enough away. "I think Kelly convinced Lori to take her outside."

"It will do her some good," Lena said taking a seat near the window. "There are multiple studies that prove the benefits of being outside during recovery."

"Maybe you could get me some pants then?" Maggie had barely moved since her surgery and she was starting to get stir crazy. "These walls are starting to wear on me, Alex's beautiful face only goes so far."

"You two are disgustingly sweet and I hate it," Kara said.

"It's payback for those years of you two running around in circles refusing to admit your burning love for one another." Alex said throwing a fry at Kara. "But we could argue which of us is worse any day of the week. I think we need to discuss Warden."

None of them wanted to talk about it. J'onn had been doing what he could to run the DEO while Alex was in the hospital. The search of the building had only resulted with two things, Miles Donovan's body and Kelly's helmet. Warden was gone, all they found was a blood trail and pieces of destroyed armor. Wherever Warden was she was in bad shape, maybe even dying which was all they could hope for. Maggie had assured them that Warden would not go back to Thorul, she had seen how quickly Thorul had turned on Warden and just how much it had broken her. Warden was on her own now, which was good for them.

"J'onn can't find her no matter how hard he looks," Kara said. "He's asked M'gann to assist in the search but he doesn't think they'll find anything."

"How many teams do you have searching?" Lena had started to become an important tactical advisor since the assault. Alex was actually considering hiring her as more than just a consultant.

"Two," Alex said with a sigh. "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta are still in recovery, to many deaths, we're shorthanded as is."

"So what do we do?" Kara was anxious to put Warden behind bars if she was still alive. To her it was like Livewire all over again.

Alex removed herself from next to Maggie, she had barely left Maggie's side the entire week. The window in Maggie's room (Alex really appreciated her sister in-laws reach sometimes) overlooked the city. It wasn't a great image but off to the left was a small park with the most beautiful tree. Not far from it was a coffee shop Maggie and Alex went to on their first date. The tree had been full of leaves that day too, it was nearly the same time of year. She had always loved that tree, Kelly had always loved it too. When she was younger she had climbed it, fallen out of it and nearly broken her arm. Alex had freaked out, Kelly had only been eight and Alex was still getting use to the whole mom thing. Kelly had gotten up, laughed and started climbing again.

"We don't do anything," Alex said with some reluctance. Doing nothing wasn't something a Danvers did well. "We've lost enough, my men are hurting and I am tired. Maggie and I are both taking a leave of absence. J'onn will take over the DEO until I return and that's it."

"That's it?" Kara couldn't believe her ears. "Alex Warden is dangerous."

"Warden is probably dead and I would rather spend the next few months supporting my daughter while she goes through physical therapy then hunting a ghost."

"Alex."

"Darling stop," Lena said. "Alex is right, forget the DEO and Warden for now. Lori is going to need you and I'm sure L-Corp won't completely destroy itself if I step away for a short time."

"We should take the time to recover," Maggie said. "Even though you are one hundred percent okay and just making the rest of us look like fools."

"Not a hard thing to do," Kara said under her breath. "Fine, but don't think Supergirl will be taking a break. National City still needs the Girl of Steel."

Lena chuckled at her wife's stubbornness. She knew the day that they got married Kara would always be putting the city first. Her priorities did change some when Lori was born but as their daughter got older Kara's focus shifted back to the city. She knew that if Lori needed Kara her wife would come running. The point was they all earned some time off, some time with their family, time to recover, time to breathe. Lena needed it but the others needed it more, Kelly had a rough road ahead, Lori was suffering from post-traumatic stress, Alex and Maggie were in dire need of a break. Kara was fine but she could tell there was an emotional toll on Kara that she wasn't talking about.

"So it's settled we live in denial about everything for these next couple of months," Alex said, if her arm hadn't been broken she would clap her hands together. "Now Lena, I think you need to go look at Kelly's leg."

"You just want us out of the room."

"Smart, you could have been a detective."

"I'll settle for billionaire business woman and philanthropist."

"And a pain in the neck," Maggie added with a chuckle.

"Fine, we're leaving," Lena said dragging Kara by the hand. "Let's go find your daughter."

XXXXX

Lori had spent a few hours with Kelly since her surgery. It amazed her how high Kelly's spirit was after losing a leg, watching her biological father die in front of her (no matter how horrible he was he was still her father), nearly watched the majority of her family die and let Thorul escape. If Lori had been in her position she would be an absolute wreck. Kelly was taking it in stride, even making jokes and teasing everyone. Lori was having a hard time staying positive, she had seen enough to make her never want to be a superhero. She'd be happy in a lab or something.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Lori didn't really care but her cousin had been so quiet it was starting to worry her.

Kelly smiled glancing over at her cousin. "Warden, they never found her body." Kelly knew it but she couldn't let it bother her. She had won, her father was dead, and that's all she could have asked for.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"Not really," Kelly said with a shrug. "She was a pawn, she's nothing without Thorul, and we'll find her eventually."

"That's surprising," Lori hadn't thought Kelly would be so calm about the whole thing. It was giving Lori anxiety just thinking about Warden being out there.

"The DEO is combing the city and she's hurt, we won that fight," Kelly was saying it more for Lori's benefit than her own. She was scared of Warden but she also knew Warden was scared of her. "Can I ask you something kid?"

"Of course."

Kelly sighed it had been bothering her since she woke up. It probably didn't matter but something about what her father said was sticking with her and she just couldn't shake it.

"Donovan said something before he died, he told me I never had a choice, that I'd always be like him," Kelly told her. "What if he was right?"

Lori laughed. She didn't mean to but she couldn't help herself. Kelly was absolutely selfless while Miles Donovan was the most selfish man Lori had ever encountered. Her cousin was nothing like her father, if anything she was a carbon copy of Maggie and Alex. She was a hero. She had willingly entered a fight she knew she wouldn't win to save her parents and Kara. If people knew her like they knew Supergirl they would know just how good of a person Kelly was.

"He wasn't," Lori said. "Kelly you've done everything in the past month to protect the rest of us. You are the most selfless, heroic person I have ever met. And my mom is Supergirl. Donovan was a sick, disgusting man who knew nothing about his own daughter. He never knew you, never knew that you had grown into a hero. So fuck what he thought. You're a Danvers, and you will never be like him."

Kelly would have started crying if she hadn't been outside. Maybe her cousin was right, maybe she was wrong. It really didn't matter she was just glad her cousin had her back. She knew her family had her back, maybe it would be enough. Maybe, just maybe, she could believe her.

"Lori?"

"Hm?"

"Watch your language."


	22. Chapter 22

**Well it's been one hell of a ride but it comes to an end here. I'm so proud of what this story became. But the story of the Danvers family isn't over, they will be back with more stories and more adventures. But until then thank you all so much for reading and sticking it out this entire time, let me know what you thought and I hope you enjoyed. I know I have. Till next time.**

Chapter 22

It had been three months since Warden had escaped. Three months since Alex, Maggie, Kara and Kelly had almost died. Three months of the most strenuous and painful recovery Kelly had ever had to go through. The pain had been hellish, the stress had given her ulcers and the PTSD she was suffering from had delayed her progress. But after three months Lena had gotten her on her feet. Her leg had started to heal and she had started to cope with the prosthetic. It was responding to the chemical and electrical impulses her brain was putting out allowing her to manipulate it like it was her actual limb. Three months of hard work, sweat and tears and she was currently in a headlock provided by her sixteen year old cousin who was apparently very annoyed with her.

"Give it to me."

"Let go."

"Not until you give it to me."

"Never."

Alex shook her head, for an adult her daughter was acting like a child. She was impressed by Lori's ability to subdue Kelly, for someone without training she was surprisingly nimble. Maggie leaned into her wife the smell of alcohol heavy on her breath.

"How long should we let this go?"

"Until one of them passes out." The two had been fighting for over five minutes, one of them was bound to give up eventually.

"My money is on Lori."

"Mine too," Alex agreed.

"Traitors…" Kelly sounded short of breath but Alex could tell she was still breathing normally. If she hadn't been Kara would have stepped in and forced the two apart.

"Give me my phone back," Lori was trying to pin Kelly put her cousin had gone stiff as a rock.

Kara had joined Alex and Maggie at this point. She was use to this kind of thing, having babysat Kelly a lot when she was younger. The two girls always found an excuse to wrestle, mostly resulting from one annoying the other. It was amazing that even at fifteen and twenty-one they were the same as twelve and six. The solution to diffuse the situation was the same as it had always been. Kara grabbed the back of her daughter's shirt and simply lifted her off of Kelly. At the same time Alex plucked Lori's phone from Kelly's hands.

"Alright enough of that," Kara said setting Lori down. "J'onn should be here any minute with food."

Kelly crossed her arms collapsing on the couch between her parents. She was glad her family was getting back to normal and that they actually had a night where everyone could get together and just have fun. However, if her cousin didn't tell her who she was so giggly about she was going to blow a gasket. If she couldn't tease her cousin about a crush or possibly boy/girlfriend (Kelly had no idea what her cousin was actually interested in) then what was the point? To be fair her cousin had been winning their little fight, Kelly didn't have the range of motion to get out of Lori's grip.

"Pizza is here," both Lori and Kara spoke at the same time having either seen or heard J'onn coming down the hall.

As if on cue, J'onn came through the door and was immediately swarmed by Kara and Lori who took the stack of pizza boxes from him. Lena sighed. She had gotten use to her wife and daughter's appetites over the years but sometimes it still surprised her just how much the two of them could eat. Her niece was the same way but she was better about it than the two Kryptonians.

"Two cheese, two vegetarian, two meat lovers and one supreme for the most well-mannered of my daughters," J'onn said giving Lena a one armed hug. "Nia and James are on their way up. Kelli apologizes but an emergency is keeping her at her office."

"Give me the meat," Kelly was over at the counter sliding one of the boxes towards herself. "Mom and I will split it."

"Yes," Alex was starving and Maggie rarely let them get a meat lovers pizza.

Alex pulled Maggie off the couch. She was still limping but was no longer feeling any pain. Her wound had torn tendons making her recovery fairly slow. She was slowly getting back into the office but had yet to be cleared for active duty. Alex was still refusing to return back to the DEO until Maggie was a bit better. J'onn didn't seem to mind, things had been quiet in recent weeks with only minor scuffles with aliens. Kara was staying busy doing the work her sister and Maggie usually did but she didn't mind.

"Hey save some for us," Nia elbowed her way into the crowded counter. "You guys always leave a piece or two but I can't share that with Jimmy."

"Aunt Nia!" Kelly wrapped her arms around her aunt lifting her off the ground. "You look good. Did you cut your hair?"

"I did," Nia confirmed flipping her hair with a smile. "How's it look?"

"Awesome," Kelly said finally setting her down. "How do I look? Legs not to flashy is it?"

"Just the right amount for you," Nia said with a laugh.

"Sweet," Kelly grinned. "Hey Jimmy, want in on this? We got two meat lovers."

James grinned rubbing his hands together. "You know it." He stopped to hug Lori, ruffling her hair slightly before taking the slice offered to him. They rarely saw James because he was so busy running his The Calvintown Gazette. When he did make it in to town it was usually to assist Kara with something at CatCo. He worked well with William Day, who was rarely invited to family events even though he was great friends with all of the original Superfriends.

"What's the special occasion?"

They did do nights where the entire Superfamily got together, but it was usually reserved for holidays and special occasions. They had decided not to celebrate the night they failed to take down Warden and Thorul. Instead Alex suggested they celebrate something else. Something actually worth celebrating.

"Tonight is in honor of Kelly dropping out of college," Alex said raising her beer for Kelly to clink.

"Hear, hear." Kelly said. It was a stupid thing to celebrate but they had their reasons.

"Is there a reason we're celebrating that specifically?" Nia asked.

"Well aunt Nia I have taken a full time position as head of security at L-Corp and after a couple years I'll be entering training at the DEO," Kelly said with a grin. She was excited to have more responsibility at L-Corp but hated she had to wait to join the DEO. "Fuck College, Alex never finished either."

"We've celebrated weirder things," James said with a shrug. "Cheers to kid Danvers."

"Cheers," everyone repeated raising their respective drinks up.

After everyone had eaten the night began to heat up some going from casual conversations to one of the most intense games of Jenga Kelly had ever witnessed. They had decided to play teams, Alex and Kara had teamed up beating Nia and Lori as well as Lena and James. They were currently in the middle of a game against Kelly and Maggie, both of which were just as skilled as their opposing team. Kelly was attempting to slide out an edge piece that was getting stuck, part of it being load bearing.

"If I hit it fast enough it's not going to fall," she said. It was all about strategy at this point, there was no way she was losing to Kara and Alex.

"No using powers, that's cheating," Alex argued. "Kara isn't using hers."

"I'm wearing a dampener," Kelly said. Her focus remained on the piece still stuck in the side of the tower, she could smack it like a cat and probably be okay.

She slammed the jenga block as hard as she could, nearly hitting Alex with it in the process. The tower swayed but didn't fall over. James tossed her the piece she had launched at Alex for her to place on the top. If she managed to do that without toppling the tower they had a good chance of winning. She dropped the block in place watching the tower teeter again before settling. She and Maggie had this game in the bag, there was no way Alex could pull a piece without toppling the tower.

Alex attempted to slip out a middle block but it was stuck tightly within the tower. There would be no easy way to quickly rip it from the rest of the blocks, she would have to take it slow and hope that it didn't knock the tower over. Kelly and Maggie were already celebrating. Alex couldn't get the piece out and all of them knew it. They were proved right when the tower collapsed around Alex's block. Normally sportsman like conduct was expected but when Kelly, Alex, Maggie and Kara got going sportsmanship went out the window. Maggie Jumped on Kelly in excitement, her daughter lifted her up laughing and cheering at the win they had accomplished. Kelly very rarely won when it came to her parents so when she beat one of them it was huge.

"In your face," Maggie said still laughing at her wife's expense. "Now drink."

Alex was muttering something under her breath but obeyed the rules they had set and drank. Out of all of them Alex was the most competitive and the one who hated losing the most. She wasn't a sore loser by any means, she just really hated when she lost.

"Alright I'm calling it, no more drunk Jenga tonight," Lena said taking the shot glass from her sister-in-law. "You two still have to drive home."

They all nodded in agreement, though none of them really wanted to quit. For once they were having fun, not worrying about anything else around them. It was getting late though and eventually the party would break apart and everyone would go their separate ways for the night. Even Kelly was starting to get anxious about going home. She had a lot she needed to do before the morning.

Kelly noticed Nia was quieter than usual. She was had her eyes closed like she did when she was in one of her dreams. Kelly cocked her head watching her closely. No one else had noticed Nia had slipped into one of her visions most of the too drunk or just to absorbed in their own conversations to tell. When Nia came out of it her first instinct was to look at Kelly which told her everything she needed to know. Kelly should have known she would never be able to get past Nia, it was a risk in the first place but of course Nia had seen what she was planning.

"I need some fresh air, excuse me." Nia left without much of an argument from anyone. Kelly waited for everyone to return to their conversations before following after.

Nia burst out of the building sucking in a huge breath of fall air. She was trying to process the information she had just gained but was having difficulty because it was the complete opposite of what Kelly was telling everyone. Why would she lie about all the plans she was making when she could just tell them the truth? Surely the rest of the Superfamily would understand.

"Nia." Kelly said from behind her catching her attention. "You saw something didn't you? You saw me leaving?"

Nia sighed turning to face to woman behind her. She looked so different from the last time Nia had seen her. Everything about her was older, more tired, and more mature. Nia could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice, Kelly was no longer the gung-ho girl she had been before her run in with Warden. It didn't surprise Nia, not after what Kelly had been through, but it was a stark difference from the girl Nia had seen grow up.

"I did," she admitted. There was no point in lying to her.

"So why didn't you say anything?"

"Why haven't you?"

Kelly shrugged. Nia knew it wasn't her answer, it was just her way of showing she was unsure of how to explain herself. Kelly would tell her exactly why she wasn't telling her family. She had no reason to hide anything from Nia. Her cover was already blown, Nia knew all of the plans she had been making were just for show so no one would think something was wrong.

"They don't need to know," Kelly said eventually. "Telling them would only hurt them, I just wanted them to be happy for a little while before I took that away."

"You're giving them false hope."

"I'm giving them something to hold on to," Kelly argued. "If I were to tell them they would try to help, to get me to stay here. I just can't do that."

Kelly hung her head partially out of shame. Lori had promised her she was nothing like her father but her cousin had been wrong. She could feel it deep inside of her, an anger that he had stoked the flames of that she couldn't shake.

"I need time to sort myself out, to figure out who I am, who I'm meant to be and I can't to that here."

Nia could tell there was no talking Kelly out of her decision. If she really needed to leave to figure out her place in the universe Nia wasn't going to stop her. She had done her own soul searching after Brainy had broken up with her. She hadn't been the only one, both James and Lena had taken time to find themselves and their places within the Superfamily. No one had stopped them, knowing it was what they needed. With Kelly though, she had just recovered from a traumatic even. She was right in thinking her parents would do everything in their power to stop her.

"I won't say anything," Nia said earning Kelly's attention. "But you need to be sure about this. It is going to hurt them."

"I know," Kelly said. "They may even hate me for it, but they'll understand eventually."

"Maybe we should get back inside," Nia suggested.

"Yeah probably," Kelly agreed opening the door for Nia. "After you."

When they entered the apartment together Kara nearly fell on her. Her aunt had been leaning up against the door, not eavesdropping just standing. Kelly caught her, setting her upright. She could tell her aunt was a little bit intoxicated. She patted her on the shoulder and went to join her parents on the couch. They were in the middle of an intense game of Unstable Unicorns with Lori, Lena and James.

"Want to take over for me?" Maggie handed Kelly her cards not waiting for an answer. "I need to get another beer."

"I could've grabbed one for you," Kelly said. "But grab me one while you're at it."

Kelly glanced over at Nia who was having a quiet conversation with J'onn about nothing important. She would keep her word and keep quiet. Kelly had her own role to play, she could give them all one night, to be happy before she left. She owed them that much, after all they had gone through one night wouldn't kill her.

As it turned out one night might just kill her. Their family had never been extremely rowdy, they were competitive and got a little loud sometimes but never rowdy. It was one of those night completely full of celebration. They were able to have a night where they could forget everything else. It was great for a while, it had been years since the last time they were all this happy. But it wasn't going to last. Kelly knew that she would have to leave tonight, with them happy. It would be a good memory to leave them with, it was the least she could do for them after all they had done for her.

"Alright," Kelly yawned. "I'm going to head out, I've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"You sure Kel?" Alex asked. "I'm sure your boss could give you a break."

"Not my boss, my doctor," Kelly said hugging Alex tightly. "She gets testy when I'm late."

She grinned turning towards Lena who was glaring at her. Kelly was going to miss all of them but it was for the best. Maggie waved her over to get her own hug which Kelly did, squeezing her extra tightly. It would be the last time she saw any of them for who knows how long.

"You mind keeping the cat for a few extra days?"

"Fine but only a few."

Maybe when her parents got tired of him they would pawn him off on Kara. Her aunt could never say no to any furry companion. Kelly wasn't sure how Lena managed to talk Kara out of adopting every stray animal she found. She sighed going over to hug both her aunts, not nearly as tight as she hugged Maggie but fairly close. She would miss Lena a lot, her aunt was part of the reason her recovery was going so well and without her constant reminders and check-ups Kelly didn't know if the leg would hold up.

"I'll see you two later," she said.

James gave her a one armed hug patting her on the back. J'onn was after that giving her one of his grandpa hugs, he lifted her up slightly. He could have easily read her mind, realizing that she was only going to stop by her apartment to pick up her bag before skipping town. He could have stopped her, but J'onn never read any one's mind without permission. It was the only reason she felt like she could leave without any trouble.

"Be careful getting home."

"I will," she said smiling. "Love you gramps."

Kelly turned towards Nia offering her a hug, not knowing if she would accept, knowing what was really going on. Nia was all too happy to hug her as tightly as she could. She would be the only one who would get to say her actual goodbye. Kelly hugged her back just as tightly, she had never been super close with Nia but at that moment she was closer to her than anyone else in the room.

"Thank you," Kelly said quietly.

"Don't thank me," Nia said. "Just do what you need to do."

"Yeah…" Kelly nodded. "Guess I should say bye to Lori…"

Lori jumped on her as soon as she came up to her. Kelly almost dropped her, which wouldn't have been bad, just funny. If it wasn't for the fact her cousin was great at tempering her strength she would have snapped Kelly in half with how tight she was hugging her. She almost pushed her cousin off but decided against it. She wouldn't hurt her like that, she was already going to hurt them all enough.

"You're gonna break my ribs Lori," Kelly could barely breath let alone speak.

"Sorry!" Lori said letting go of her. "I'm just happy that you're smiling again."

Kelly ruffled Lori's hair causing her cousin to swat her hand away. She may have been happy that Kelly was smiling again but she was tired of Kelly messing up her hair. It was also annoying that Kelly was still treating her like she was ten. Then again her cousin had nearly died so Lori would give this to her. She was proud of her cousin, not just for surviving against Warden but for her recovery. She was doing better than the rest of them both physically and mentally. Lori had no idea how she was doing it.

"I'll see you later kid," Kelly said. "Stay out of trouble."

"You planning on going somewhere?"

"No I'm just talking," Kelly said rubbing the back of her neck.

She hugged Lori again, tightly. Part of her knew Lori would be the last to forgive her. She was abandoning her family, the people who had stood by her side during her recovery, because she felt lost. Leaving was the only thing she could think of to help her figure everything out. Maybe the solitary journey was what she needed to rid herself of her father's shadow. Or maybe it was exactly what he had wanted. Maybe he had known she would go off on her own and realize she would be better off without them.

"Alright I'm out, see you guys later."

She could feel the lump in her throat growing as she left. The longer she stayed the harder it would be to leave. She just had to keep telling herself that this was the only way. If she didn't leave she would lose herself to him, she could feel it, that pull. A piece of her that wasn't entirely her. She had felt it since the night she helped kill him a darkness that never really went away eventually it would swallow her whole.

XXXXX

Alex laughed as she stumbled through her front door with Maggie closely in tow. The gathering had gone on a lot longer than they had expected with James and Nia leaving an hour after Kelly, J'onn an hour after that and finally them two hours later. They would have stayed longer but Lori had been starting to wear out and Kara and Lena were getting to the point of drunk. It didn't help that when Alex and Maggie got drunk they both got a little handsy, they figured they should get home before anything escalated.

"I'm going to get us something to drink then we'll finish what we started in the car," Maggie said with a chuckle as Alex nipped her lower lip.

"Don't keep me waiting," Alex said with a coy smile giving one last tug to Maggie's collar.

Maggie was grinning like a fool, she adored Alex and at times like this she remembered just how much she loved her wife. Alex sauntered off down the hall to their room leaving Maggie standing in the door way alone. She stepped into the kitchen with Ghost close on her heels. He normally followed Alex but tonight he was pawing at Maggie's leg which wasn't like him. She scratched behind his ears as she dug for the bottle of scotch she and Alex had to hide so Kelly didn't take it. She finally found it pulling it down along with two glasses.

She was pouring Alex glass when she noticed something on the counter. It looked like a note in Kelly's hand writing that hadn't been there when they had left. _That's odd…_ she thought. She set the bottle down and rounded the counter to pick up the piece of paper. Her heart broke as she read through the lines. She couldn't have been reading this right.

"Mags, everything alright?"

Apparently she had been taking long enough that Alex felt the need to come and check on her.

"Maggie what happened?"

Maggie shakily held out the note for Alex to take. She was finding it hard to breathe, what had they done wrong? Alex took the note with a concerned look spreading across her face. She read part of the note then looked back at her wife. Maggie nodded prompting Alex to start reading the note out loud.

"I wish there was a way to explain this to you that you could understand. I've gone back and forth trying to figure out if I really needed to leave and the only answer I've ever been able to come up with was yes. I hope you can forgive me for not saying goodbye in person. I just knew if I did that I would have never been able to leave…

"It isn't because of anything you did, this has to do with Miles Donovan and me. He said something right before he died and I can't get it out of my head, like he still has a hold on me. I'm really sorry, I love both of you so much I didn't want to hurt you but I know I have. I promise I'll be home once I figure everything out. Again love you both – Kelly."

Alex was shaking almost as bad as Maggie but unlike her wife she went straight for the glass of scotch. They had two options, go after her or let her go. Alex didn't know which option they should take. Kelly was struggling and it was something none of them had realized and clearly she didn't think they could help her. Alex could understand that, both her and her sister had had moments where they felt like being alone was better than having someone to lean on. They had always come around in the end, either going to one another or one of their friends. Kelly was different, she was somewhat of a loner, much like Lena. She might change her mind and turn around or she might continue down a solitary path until she found her answers.

"We have to go after her," Maggie said with a sudden urgency Alex had only ever seen in her once. "She doesn't know what she's saying, if we just talk to her she'll realize we can help."

Alex said nothing as Maggie started pacing and speaking her thoughts out loud. Maggie was trying to formulate a plan but Alex was trying to drown her out. She needed to think. They wouldn't be able to find her, she would have left her cellphone, removed the tracking chip all DEO agents had and would be masking her powers. The only way to follow her was to follow her credit card. She was smarter than that, she would have drained her account and set up a new one they would really have to look to find. She would be in the wind, like Alex had always taught her incase Donovan ever returned and Alex wasn't around to protect her. She had given Kelly everything she would ever need to disappear. They had to accept that.

"Maggie stop…"

"Stop? Alex our daughter needs to be here," Maggie shouted throwing her arms up. "We should be out there looking for her."

"We won't find her, I know that and you know that," Alex said calmly. "She'll come back. She just needs time."

"Alex goddamnit, how can you say that."

"You left because you needed to, I gave you time, I gave you space, I moved on," Alex said starting to lose her patience. "But you came back. We need to give her space, we have no idea what she is going through but I know my daughter and I know she'll come back."

Alex caught Maggie before she collapsed in tears. She knew it wasn't what Maggie wanted to hear but she also knew Maggie realized she was right. Kelly would come back, she would never leave without a reason. Their daughter was strong, she knew what she was doing and if this was the only reasonable course of action she could come to Alex wasn't going to question it. They would just have to wait for her to come home or show up on the DEO's radar, no matter how long it took.

"Come on," Alex said dragging Maggie to her feet. "I think both of us could use a long hot shower."

Maggie allowed Alex to lead her to the bathroom. Alex turned on the water before stripping down and helping Maggie out of her own clothes. They had a lot to think about. That night would be difficult for both of them but the next day would be even worse. Alex had no idea how to tell everyone that Kelly had left. She didn't think Lori would take it very well, not after the way the two of them had been teasing each other earlier that day. Alex knew she would be the one to tell everyone. She didn't think Maggie would be able to.

She sighed her tears being washed away by the hot water raining down on them. Alex held Maggie close, soothing her through her sobs. She knew how much pain Maggie was in because she felt it too, but there had been nothing they could do. Their only solace would be knowing Kelly promised she would return. They had to hold on to that hope no matter how long it took.

XXXXX

Kelly ran her hand through her hair her eyes scanning over the terminal in front of her. She had no idea where gate B21 was. The signs were confusing and the directions a worker had given her had only confused her more. She had been to an airport maybe three times in her life. She hated them, there were always too many people, and they were useless. She could fly, she didn't need to be locked in a tin can at 30,000 feet. She had finally had enough when she passed the same T.G.I. Fridays for the fourth time.

"Can anyone fucking tell me where Gate B21 one is?!"

Most passersby stared at her because of her sudden outburst earning them a glare from the annoyed metahuman. She just wanted to get on her flight and get out of the city. But she couldn't do that if she couldn't find her flight.

"Are you lost?"

Kelly turned to face a man roughly her height but definitely older than her standing behind her with a smile. His hair was short and graying but he had a friendly face, one that she felt inclined to trust.

"Extremely," she admitted. "You wouldn't happen to know where B21 is, would you?"

"I would actually," he said. "I'm on the same flight, we could walk together if you like?"

She almost considered turning him down. His friendliness was making her a bit uncomfortable, but she was probably being paranoid. He almost looked like Donovan, if Donovan looked less like a serial killer and more like the friendly grandpa who lived down the street. He seemed to notice her hesitation because he smiled again.

"My family is already at the gate," he said. "I can promise you I'm not a deranged individual trying to kidnap young girls in the airport."

"Weird thing to say."

"And yet you were thinking it."

_Fair enough…_ Kelly thought. He was right she _had_ been thinking it but that fact he called her out for it made her think she had him pegged wrong. She shrugged, even if he was some kind of freak she could snap him like a twig even without her powers. He nodded at her realizing she was agreeing to follow him. She walked in complete silence next to him as he relayed stories of his wife and three kids. They seemed like the perfect family, happy, content at least in his mind. While she listened Kelly found herself missing her parents. They had probably realized by then it would take a lot of their resources to find her. She knew how to hide herself from a Kryptonian and the DEO.

"So, young girl like yourself must be running away from something," he said catching her off guard.

"You could say that," she said chewing on the words. She wasn't exactly running away. "You'd be wrong. It's more like running towards something."

"I see," he said. "Well I wish you luck."

"Thanks."

"So what's your final destination?"

She hadn't really thought about it. She didn't exactly know what she was chasing, just that she wasn't going to find it in National City… Kelly smiled to herself, maybe that was what her final destination would be.

"You know," Kelly said looking up at the stranger beside her. "I think my final destination is what it's always been…"

She never finished her thought at least to him. He didn't need to know, he was just a kind stranger she had run into at an airport. She glanced out the window at the rising sun over the outskirt of National City. She knew what her final goal would be. When all was said and done, her final destination could only be one place…

Home…


End file.
